Work the Plan

By Mary Lou Carney

WEB EXCLUSIVE

Very few worthwhile things are done without planning. Whether it’s a birthday party or a new house, a job strategy, a vacation or a charity benefit—planning matters.

And when you take time to plan, you’re in good company. God’s a planner, too! Scripture is filled with references to his plans and how he brings them to pass. “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11). “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen’” (Isaiah 14:24).

Of course, not all your plans will succeed, not all your “to-do” lists get done. But that is even more reason to keep making them, to refine them, to offer them to the Lord. “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (Proverbs 16:3). God can bring a sacredness to even the most everyday of plans.

From an early age, Orville and Wilbur Wright were drawn to machinery—to how it worked, to what it could do. At their shop in Dayton, Ohio, they tinkered with motors and printing presses and bicycles. And they dreamed—of flying machines soaring freely among the clouds. Soon the brothers began to plan and sketch, to work and rework, to test their new inventions…and to fail. But out of every failure came a new plan, new knowledge. Then, on December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers succeeded in making the first controlled, sustained heavier-than-air human flight. The aviation age was born!

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Daily Guideposts 2012

2012 Edition Now Available! Our uplifting new collection of 366 inspiring devotionals to help you find comfort and reassurance in your life each day of the year is now available. Our theme for 2012 is The Things That Make for Peace, and in every selection you’ll find inspiring proof that no matter how uncertain our world may seem, we are in the hands of God.

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Don’t let procrastination or short-term failure keep you from planning. And take courage that God’s best plan of all involves you. “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Plan to have a great life—that’s what God has in mind for you!

Download your FREE ebook, A Prayer for Every Need, by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.