Planning ahead...

It is presumptuous to plan too much about the future. But what about strategic planning, retirement funds, career goals, and saving up for a long-planned vacation? Is that presuming upon the future?

Jesus calls the farmer a fool for planning to tear down his barn and build a bigger one to store his wealth (Luke 12:28). In another story Jesus seems to assume that a sensible person will plan ahead and count the cost before starting a building project (Luke 14:28). But then James scoffs at those who make travel or business plans. “Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow” (James 4:14). Is it foolish to plan ahead or is it just good common sense?

For me the answer lies in how tightly I grip my fists around my plan, how firmly I grit my teeth to reach my goal. James goes on to say, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15). Jesus’ problem with the rich farmer who was going to build a bigger barn was not his planning, it was his self-centeredness. The problem comes when we care more about our plans than we do about God’s plans. The farmer with the barn plans was a short-timer and a fool. Jesus warns others with a similar bent. “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).

Planning ahead is not a problem. But more important than our plans should be our desire to be “rich toward God.”