I had a dream one night that opened my eyes to a new dimension. The dream and revelation from God told me that I should remain on guard and to plan better. If I have opened the door to allow the accuser access (legality) to do some treacherous act, then I need to ensure that I have confessed and repented to nullify the accusers words against me. Then seek God’s path and direction and request his provision.
The book of Proverbs states:
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he [shall] establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
When we confess and repent, we then can come to God, our Jehova Hashopet (Lord my Judge) and freely make a request. If we ‘commit’ this request to God, he shall establish our plans. I changed the word ‘will’ in this version of the scripture to shall, because it is shall in the KJV but also because this is a promise. It’s not a maybe; it’s a done deal: commit your request to building the Kingdom, expanding its culture, doing good, giving to the poor, feeding the needy, spreading the Gospel and the like, and God promises to establish - to create, make firm, to stand, to prepare, make room for - your plan. In other words, God will make provision for your plans.
So we’ve confessed and repented. We’ve committed our desires to the Lord. Provision has been promised by God. And now we’ve started planning. Or have we?
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. Luke 14:28-32 (NIV)
What Jesus is saying here is, before you start to do something, ensure you have adequately planned. Otherwise you look like a fool. No way he’s going to involve himself in something that you just threw together. He’s not that type of God. He works in order, not chaos (didn’t He pre-plan your life before you were conceived?).
So you must plan.
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
…but the Lord establishes their steps… another promise and another use of the word establish. So what is God creating, making firm, standing, preparing, making room for, or providing provision for in this case?
Your steps - your pace, direction, stride, gait. He is creating, making firm, standing, preparing, making room for, or providing provision for the pace you will receive this blessing from him.
What if you pray for a boat and receive a dinghy? Will you be satisfied?
When you go before the Courts of Heaven to make your request, you should be specific. In your specificity, your plan will testify for itself. Without a proper plan, when God blesses us, we will only mess things up.
Some things we ask for, we aren’t ready for. We haven’t thought it through. We haven’t figured out how we will sustain it.
A little insight: if you know me, you know I want a jet. Not a small, one propeller type plane, but a Gulstream (G6) type plane. And if you know another thing about me, when I first said I wanted jet, I then said I wanted to learn to fly. Will I buy a plane before piloting school? How much is piloting school? How will this be accomplished with a family, a business, and other commitments? Have I sourced a crew? Ground and in-flight? What will this cost? What’s the daily maintenance costs?
I can’t go to God and say I need money to finance this desire without knowing first what the desire costs. Recall the builder and the king from Luke 14? Both would look like fools if they didn’t plan and so will I if I don’t make plans. I must prove to God that I have thought this through. That I have adequately planned for it and am prepared to receive whatever He has for me.
So if you haven’t done it yet, plan out your day. Plan out the remainder of the year. Every now and then, revisit your annual plan to check on its progress.
If you haven’t thought about it, how can you have the audacity to go before the throne to ask God, who “…is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20), anything. He can’t work with that. He needs a starting point to do above all you can imagine!
Fail to plan…plan to fail… God wants you to plan!
Always,
Keiyia JOYet George
How have you mapped out your goals? Do you create annual plans? 3-year plans? 5-year plans? Comment below on your progress. Leave a comment below. I’m sure others will find solace and encouragement to map out their desires, before going before God.