Planning Helps You Live With Purpose

by Rick Warren — November 10, 2022
From Building a Better Future

“Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.”

Proverbs 4:26 (NLT)

God has a plan for your life—but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make plans too. He doesn’t want you to drift along, letting circumstances determine the direction of your life. He wants you to be intentional about the path you choose.

Although the Bible gives many reasons for planning, here are three reasons that are foundational.

God makes plans.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (NIV).

God wants you to be like him. So, if God makes plans, then you should make plans too.

But there’s one thing God is not: “God is not a God of disorder” (1 Corinthians 14:33 NIV). Do you have any plans for the rest of the year? The next 10 years? If you haven’t made any plans for your life, then it’s likely your life is out of order—and that’s not how God created you to live.

God expects you to plan because it is beneficial to your life.

Throughout Scripture, particularly in the book of Proverbs, the Bible talks about the value of planning your life. Proverbs 4:26 says, “Mark out a straight path for your feet” (NLT). That’s just another way of saying, “Make a plan.”

God tells you to plan because he doesn’t want you to live a life of confusion as you muddle through each day. The Bible says, “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV).

God doesn’t want you to waste your life.

Planning is a matter of stewardship. Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as [those] who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don’t be vague but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of God” (PHILLIPS).

The old cliché is true: If you’re failing to plan, you’re planning to fail.

Take steps today toward building a better future by writing down a simple plan. Then ask God for help every day to move forward in faith.

Talk It Over

  • How can you be more like God today in the way you make plans for the week ahead?
  • What are some common barriers that might keep someone from being a planner?
  • Do you think it’s possible to over-plan? When would making too many plans cause just as many problems as making too few plans?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.