"We have to reach hard in the direction of the lives we want, even if it’s difficult to do so." Cheryl Strayed
What do you do when your plans fall apart? Don’t misinterpret this question. We are fully committed and progressing towards going to Malawi, southern Africa. This post is about the value of learning life-long lessons in the arena of an unpredictable life.
Years ago, I felt like God spoke a word of correction to my spirit. I had worked hard in developing a plan, and I was trying to work the plan. However, the plan was falling apart. All the arrangements I had made were collapsing. I had arranged to house 30 students at a church for a week during a missions trip. Three days into the trip, I was told we had to leave because another group had just called and asked to stay at the church. We were being “evicted”. My budget had not planned to put 30 students plus 8 leaders in motel rooms for four nights. I hadn’t made reservations for blocks of rooms in southern California in the middle of tourist season. Furthermore, there was a major staffing change at the church we were going to work with, and all the events we were prepared to participate in were cancelled, scaled down, or had been only partially planned. All the items on the planned itinerary were being scratched off. What was the point of planning if it was all going up in smoke? That’s when I felt the Lord speak: “Go ahead and make a plan, but hold it loosely in your hand.” I don’t say this lightly. There is no way in the world that I came up with such a thought.
This advice is one of my primary axioms of life. It’s a principle that allows me to chase short-term goals but have long-term perspective. I wonder what was going on in King Solomon’s life when he wrote,
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
Proverbs 19:21
Solomon is famous for “making it happen”. He built the Temple in Jerusalem. He built beautiful palaces, gardens, fortifications, and a portfolio of other projects. He had a vision! But what happens when the vision hits a speedbump? What happens when the ideal meets the real? What happens when you reach the peak but have to head down into the next valley? The wisest man who ever lived was wise enough to take this perspective: Play the long-game.
Make the plan, but hold it loosely in your hand. If whatever you are working on is taken away, take a deep breath and recognize something else will be put in your hand. I realize that when I hold on to something too tightly, I am exhibiting an arrogant sense of control and ownership. The truth is: I don’t own anything. There is no guarantee that I’ll ever own anything forever. All I can do is take care of it, steward it, for the time being. That goes for my own life. I don’t own my life. It’s not mine. I belong to God. Therefore, all I can do is manage this life well for God. Our experience stepping into full-time missions has underscored this lesson multiple times already. Even when all our strategies, plans, methods, and efforts don’t seem to work in the moment, God shows up and demonstrates that His purposes are prevailing.
Confession: I didn’t embrace the lesson of the long-game on that missions trip. I behaved awfully on that trip- angry, irritable, impatient. Honestly, I came home defeated. It didn’t turn out like anything I had planned. I didn’t see the worth of planning anything, anymore. But, eventually, I learned a lot. I learned not to do everything myself. I learned to ask for help. I learned to unleash other people who could do things better than me. I learned to go ahead and plan, but when things went sideways, I’d hold it loosely in my hand. The next year’s missions trip was completely different. Things still went sideways: chaos with transportation, drama in relationships, potentially having to leave a middle-schooler at the Mexican border because he had misplaced his passport. Don’t worry; we got him through. The difference wasn’t that my plans worked better. I laughed more. I enjoyed watching leaders lead. I rolled with the punches, and we got a lot more done. Short-term problems didn’t prevent long-term progress.
Failed plans should not be interpreted as a failed vision. Visions don't change, they are only refined. Plans rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible with your plan. John Maxwell
Right now, I’m sitting at my computer, looking at my calendar and my initial plans. I’ve hit a wall. It’s nothing that any experienced missionary hasn’t faced countless times; however, it’s new to us. It’s then I remember what happened a few months ago. I was sitting in a similar spot, feeling that similar “stuck” feeling. My January calendar was looking VERY empty. Not good. Suddenly, I got a response from an email I sent a month prior. The answer perfectly met my need. I had forgotten I’d even sent that email. I’m glad God was thinking further out ahead than I was.
Bottom line: What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Play the long-game. What do you do when you’ve done everything you know to do? Play the long-game.That goal you are struggling to reach? That relationship that isn’t working? That dream that seems to have died? Realize that God is out in front, working in the background, using anything and everything to accomplish His purposes. God is playing the long-game. Who knew that a short-term missions trip 15 years ago would teach me a lesson I’m now embracing as a life axiom for a life-long missions commitment? See, I had many plans in my heart, but the Lord’s purpose prevailed.
How can you apply this idea of the long-game to your life? What purpose may God have for using your seemingly failed plans?