Day 3 of False Choices: You must choose between trusting or planning.

“A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life], But the Lord directs his steps and establishes them.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Like me, you may have heard this phrase attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail.”

On the other hand, we may hear well-intentioned Christians expressing that trusting in the Lord means that you don’t plan.

As you may have guessed, our false choice for today is that you must choose between planning or trusting the Lord.

So, what is the truth about the relationship between planning and trusting? Are they mutually exclusive? The answer is a resounding, “No! They are not mutually exclusive.” One does not preclude the other.

Let’s take a look at some of the things Jesus said about the relationship between planning and trusting.

Here is one of the most well-known scriptures encouraging us to trust the Lord for all that we need:

“And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here we see that the Lord is encouraging us to trust our Father for what we need as we put seeking His Kingdom, or His way of being and doing, His righteousness, as a priority and the context in which all planning occurs.

Through some of Jesus’ examples we see that planning is taken as a given in terms of the way we should operate.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭14‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here, the Lord presents this example to His disciples to express the fact that they should not follow Him unless they already know—and have accepted—what that would mean for them. He did not want them going off halfcocked, not knowing what to expect, and stumbling at the first offense.

James illuminates the essence of the relationship between planning and trusting here:

“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Planning isn’t wrong; presumption is.

In our opening scripture we see the proverbial writer expressing that we can plan all we want; but we must depend on the Lord to make it happen.

“Many plans are in a man’s mind, But it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand (be carried out).”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭21‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Here we see that the relationship between trusting and planning for us is not one of choosing one or the other, but of making our planning according to God‘s will and purpose (trusting that His way is best).

“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭143‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David—a man who wanted to know what the heart of God desired— expresses his desire for the Lord to tell him where he needed to go and what he needed to do. He was trusting the Lord to guide his planning.

People who do no sort of planning are either overcome with fear, overwhelmed with the choices, or depressed.

People who do planning without submitting their plans to the Lord are not going to prosper in His Kingdom.

I would put the process of balancing trusting and planning this way:

Pray for guidance. Plan. Pray for strength and favor to carry out the plan.

Today we lay to rest the false choice between trusting and planning.

#10daysoffalsechoices