This year I am going to…

Think about the one thing you want to accomplish this year. Do you have it? Next, it’s time to make a plan. Oh wait, I forgot to ask you how you came up with your goal. I ask because, despite what we have been taught (dream it and be it), we don’t really command life. For example, we can’t determine our birthday, the day we die (suicide attempts do fail), or even how tall we grow. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that we are not in charge.

But just because we are not in charge, it doesn’t mean we can’t plan. We just need to consult with the One who makes plans happen in order to get the right plan.

I remember when I used to work as an independent contractor doing accounting work for small non-profits. In a conversation with a woman at one of my sites I shared with her the scary experience of quitting my job to start my small venture. Later, when her job got stressful, she mentioned that she had thoughts of quitting her job like I had. I cringed because I had failed to mention to her that quitting my job was done after much prayer and in fact, the idea didn’t originate with me but with God. In fact, I took the step anxiously, trusting in God’s direction. (That’s what happens when we leave God out of our conversations. People have holes in their understanding of our actions.)

Hey, we do have the ability to choose many things within the guard rails of life. Our choices progress into effects that carry us one place or another, but it may not be the place we want to be to complete the sentence about what we will accomplish not just for this year but in life. To do that, we need to be on the same page with God because He makes the plans that bring purpose to our lives succeed.

Psalm 20:4

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.