Poor Planning

Mark 14:55-59

      What a bunch of idiots! I have to catch myself, sometimes, because I just want to laugh at the poor planning and execution of some things in life. We had a great example last year with the launch of Obamacare. They had years to get it right, and they couldn’t. The website crashed within minutes of starting. What a demonstration of the ineptitude of the government attempting to do something the government is not designed to do. But when the goal is consolidation of power rather than providing a good product, ineptitude is acceptable!

      But here in Florida, and I am sure other places as well, I see examples of some really poor planning. Here we have whole communities laid out with roads and utilities, but no houses. Thousands of acres just sitting, empty. I know the real estate booms and swamp land deals of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s took their toll on our landscapes. I get that. But some simple market research could have told them that there were only so many people who had the money to buy these second homes. And the competition was fierce.

      We see this poor planning when some shopping centers open up with half the stores empty. And then they stay empty. Or the houses that begin to get built and then just stop, standing for years as empty shells. Or the new restaurant that opens up in the old IHOP and expects to make a go of it. Location, location, location. What makes them think their restaurant will survive where five others have failed! There is a reason those failed.

      Or the young couple who get married way too fast, against the advice of all their family and friends. Caught up in ‘love’ (hormones), they think they can overcome all the obvious obstacles that everyone sees but them. And then the inevitable struggles start, and they don’t have the resources to deal with the onslaught. They run out of money, energy, ideas, coping skills, friends, options…ideas. (I know I said ideas twice!) And then they wonder what happened.

      The religious leaders have been planning to kill Jesus for some time, at least months. They have been plotting and gathering. You would think one of them early on in the planning would have asked the question, “How are we going to get evidence against Him that will be sufficient to warrant His execution?” But it seems no one did. They arrive at the moment and they are scrambling to find the video tapes, the eye witnesses, the DNA evidence. They have nothing!

      They didn’t want to nab Him during the Festival to avoid the crowd’s reaction, and yet this is exactly what happens. They stumble over themselves because of their own fears and anxieties. Jesus is such a threat to them and their way of life that they let things get out of hand. The let the proverbial cart go before the horse.

      They haven’t lined up any evidence. They haven’t interviewed their witnesses. They haven’t even found witnesses. They thrust themselves into the grand jury without even a shred of evidence. Good thing the judge, the high priest, is corrupt or the whole thing would have gone down the tubes.

      Of course you can’t find witnesses to things that haven’t happened. Jesus hasn’t done anything worthy of death, and they know it. But that doesn’t stop them from trying.

      So next time you try to frame someone for a crime, be sure to do better planning than these religious leaders! Well….. You probably shouldn’t be trying to frame someone in the first place, right?

The “What If’s” of Life

Mark 3:8-9

      How much should we plan in life? How flexible do we need to be? To answer this simply, both planning and flexibility are needed. How much of each do you need in your life to feel comfortable? To accomplish all the tasks in your life? To manage the unexpected? It can be hard to balance these competing pulls on your life, energy and time. You are not alone in this struggle.

      Jesus has purposed to spend time with His disciples. But His plans get interrupted by the crowds who gather from the four winds to get something from Jesus. Jesus wants to give to His disciples and the crowds rush in and take over His attention.

      Jesus has plans for this time, but the crowds introduce a new plan. Jesus has to be flexible. Jesus must know that there is no way for Him to avoid the crowds at this moment. His plans must be set aside.

      But notice that Jesus still makes some new plans. Jesus assesses the situation, the gathering crowds and the potential rush to get close to Him, and He devises a plan. He is there by the lake, and several of His disciples used to be fishermen. He tells the disciples to get a small boat ready. He could use it to push out from the shore in case the crowds get too great.

      I can see two things we can learn from our passage today. It is OK to make plans. Order in the middle of chaos is acceptable. Many of us try to control what we can when things get overwhelming. This is often where compulsive behaviors start. In the middle of a crisis, when things are overwhelming, we grab onto something to try to keep us stable. We use something to help us get through, and then we repeat the action the next time something similar arises. Compulsive behaviors usually make sense when we understand when they got started.

      But when the old way of coping, the old plan doesn’t work in the current situation, it is time to become more flexible. It is necessary when circumstances change for new plans to be developed. It is OK to take precautions,.

      The other thing I learn is that it is OK to plan ahead in ministry. You don’t need to be in some hyper spiritual mode to be in the middle of God’s will. Jesus saw the crowds coming and the future possibility of them overwhelming Him physically, and He made a plan. When we plan, we need to think about alternate plans, to brainstorm the “what if’s”. This does not indicate a lack of faith, or a lack of responsiveness to the Holy Spirit. It is just following Jesus’ example.

Dreamer

Proverbs 16:1

      I have plans! I don’t know if any of them will happen, but that doesn’t stop me from planning. There are so many outside forces and circumstances that can influence the outcome. I could plow my way to an outcome, but I don’t want to expend that much energy. Sheer force of will can get things done, sometimes, but my will can also be outside of God’s will.

      I forgot to tell you something, I am a dreamer. I am always coming up with new plans. Very few of them stick. I used to drive my wife nuts. Now she has learned to just ignore the plans that get stated, and back the ones that get acted upon.

      We as human beings can be fickle creatures. Only the LORD’s plans never change. They are the ones that get spoken into existence. The LORD can say “Let there be…” and when He speaks, it happens. Our plans are only temporary. His are permanent.

      The LORD gives us the ability to plan and dream about what we want to do. We are free to do it. But if we are going to carry out our plans and dreams, we need to make sure that they line up with His plans. Perhaps a better way of putting it would be to say that we need to find out His plans, and then plan and dream accordingly. His plans will happen, so if you want to be successful at something, follow along in what the LORD is doing.

      If we keep our dreaming within God’s plans, then we can dream to our hearts content, and what we dream can happen. If we are dreaming outside of His plan, all our efforts will come to nothing. Eternity will not be effected positively. Our plans will be wood, hay and stubble. They will get burned up.

Chiseled in Stone

Proverbs 14:22

      Anyone enjoy the “Oceans” 11, 12, 13 movies? The planning that goes into the big heists is fun to watch, even though hipped by Hollywood. And with the recent big stakes heist that took place in Cannes, France netting the thief about $136 million in jewels! Really big evil usually doesn’t happen without planning.

      We recognize this when someone murders another person. There are different degrees of murder: First-degree murder – premeditated, Second-degree – intentional and not premeditated, Third-degree – manslaughter (attack that ends in death without intent to kill). Only First-degree involves planning. It gets the harshest punishments because it involves planning.

      But planning can go into many different sinful acts. It is this premeditation that is summed up in the word “plot” in our text today. The Hebrew carries the idea of engraving or chiseling into stone. It takes time and effort to chisel stone. If you want it to look good, you have to plan your carving. We reward that planning by placing the best examples of chiseling in museums!

      But sinful acts aren’t the only acts that require planning. Righteous acts require planning as well. The second half of this proverb states that planning is part of good acts. It is the same word in Hebrew as in the first half. Planning and plotting are the same original word. If you want to do really big good things, you have to plan!

      If you want your life to count for something, to have a positive impact for the Kingdom, then you need to live a life with purpose, a life that has some planned, thoughtful direction and goals. I you aimless walk the life of faith, then your impact will be limited.

      The Scriptures detail many objectives for those who want to follow Christ. The one most often proclaimed is the Great Commission, “Go into all the world and preach…”, but there are many other things we are to be doing. Many of those things require us to plan.

      If we want to have the greatest impact on the poor in our communities, then we will need to plan. Just handing out McDonald’s food vouchers to those standing in traffic with a sign won’t make much impact. But perhaps joining forces with others and addressing the underlying causes of poverty can make a difference. But this takes time and planning.

      If you want to be a better parent, it takes planning and preparation. We must count the cost and then invest.