Lessons Learned in 2010: #3

#3 You can and should have a plan, but you had better be willing to adjust to God's plan when your plan doesn't align with His.

I'm a planner. I can't help it, and sometimes I wish I could let go of it. I'm constantly thinking about what's next whether it's in my day, with my family, or in preparation for the launch of our worship experiences. While it's definitely better to think this way than to not, I know I often miss out on the present because I'm too focused on the future. I'm praying that God helps me find a better balance between the present and future because if I don't pay enough attention to the present my future plans will never be reached.

When it was time to begin planting a new church, I had a plan. I had goals with deadlines. There were certain things I wanted to achieve and see happen, so I thought I had it all figured out. While some of my goals were achieved, I've had to realize that some of my goals were simply my ideas and not God's plans. In these instances, I first felt like I had strayed away from God's plan. It was almost like I was missing the mark. Then, He reminded me that as long as I am seeking His direction and trusting His guidance, I'll be on track.

As a result, we've made adjustments within our launch team over the past 6 or 7 months that weren't in the original plans. I never thought we'd spend the summer meeting on Sunday nights at the BCM on the UT campus, but we did. I was certain we would start our small groups in the fall, but our timing wasn't His timing. On the other hand, I've probably made a few decisions that weren't perfectly aligned with His plan, yet He continued to guide and make the most out of our situation.

In November, Jennifer had an unexpected job change. While this definitely wasn't in our plans, God continued to provide for our every need. Even when our plans left us with more questions than answers we had to remember that God was never surprised by our situation. Now, Jennifer is about to transition into a new position that is actually better than her original job in so many ways, but if she hadn't went through the unexpected change in November, she wouldn't have been ready for this new opportunity.

So here's the takeaway from this... Our planning should always lead us towards God's will. Sometimes our plans may line up perfectly with His will, but other times we may have to adjust when we step off track or miscalculate our next step. We can't be so confident in our plan that we are unwilling to change direction should God reveal our misdirection.