Planning Through the Grid of God's Wisdom

March 3, 2013 Proverbs 16:1-20

Please Note: the full transcript is available in the Manuscript link above.

Proverbs 21:5 - The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.

1. Continue to Discuss, Refine, and Implement Our Discipleship Process.

2. Organize and Launch Our New Cluster of Ministries at Faith West.

3. Work Together as a Church Family to Develop Our Next 5-Year Strategic Ministry Plan.

5 planning principles from one of the wisest kings who ever lived.

I. Plan Well but Plan Conditionally

A. Ultimately the Lord will determine which of our plans will come to pass and to what degree

James 4:13-15 - Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

Matthew 6:9-10 - Pray, then, in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…"

B. This principle should bring passion and aggressiveness to our planning process.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Zechariah 4:6 - …Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Proverbs 16:1 - The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

C. This principle should bring comfort to our planning process.

II. Carefully Evaluate the Motives of Your Plans

Proverbs 16:2 - All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.

A. Because we tend to view ourselves more positively than we should

Proverbs 16:25 - There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

"Our scales are off the mark; sometimes we weigh the thumb along with the item and distort the weight of what we are up to." (Adams, Proverbs, p. 125)

B. Because this is a marvelous opportunity to do battle with our pride

Proverbs 16:5 - Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

1 Peter 5:6-8 - Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Proverbs 16:2 - All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.

C. Because we can either destroy pride or it will destroy us

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Proverbs 21:5 - The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.

D. Because some advancement isn't worth the price

Proverbs 16:19 - It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Proverbs 16:8 - Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.

Proverbs 16:17 - The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; he who watches his way preserves his life.

III. Plan to Win

Proverbs 16:3 - Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.

A. If you have submitted your plans and motivations to the Lord, you can/should expect great things that will stand the test of time

Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.