I don’t know about you, but I am a planner. I think things through and plan out activities and projects. I keep a calendar and lists of what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. Planning is fun and is much easier than actually doing something. Even with my best plans, there is always something that does not go according to my plan and I just have to “wing it.”
For me, it is easier to “wing it” when I at least have a basic plan for what I am wanting to accomplish. One of my many flaws, though, is that I tend to over-plan. Like I said, I like the planning phase of a project and it is much easier to plan a project than it is to actually do it. I sometimes get so wrapped up in the planning that the project never gets started. I strategize on the best approach and try to look at every scenario before I start. When I do finally get started, the projects rarely go exactly as planned and I find myself frustrated.
Why do I spend so much time planning everything? I think that sometimes I spend more time planning because I’m afraid to start a project and make a mistake. I don’t want to go talk to that person that I know God is telling me to talk to, because I don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want to start reading the Bible every day because I know life is going to happen and I’ll miss a day and have another failed goal. I don’t do the things that I know I ought to do today because I am worried about tomorrow and too busy planning the days to come.
Maybe I am too busy trying to build my own kingdom and trying to solve all of the problems myself, rather than relying on God to direct my steps and provide everything that I need. It is good to think ahead and make plans, as long as they are not my plans, but God’s plans. Walt Disney once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.” Too often I talk about doing things and they never get done. I am waiting for the right time or the right circumstances. I’m working on the right plan. It is much easier to talk about a project than to actually do it. Fear of failure is one of the greatest enemies of success. It is time to start doing. The old Chinese proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Every journey is just one step at a time. Every beginning is small.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” Zechariah 4:10
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6: 33-34
