Making Your Plans Sacred

I thought I'd start by giving you a little peek into our family's life at this precise moment in time because I was thinking yesterday of how in our family every single member of our immediate family is in one of the major life stage transitions right now. For example, our youngest son David and his fiance Anna Catherine are getting married in two weeks. Can you believe that? So stoked for them. They just found their first apartment in San Jose. They're paying $15,000 a month rent or something like that that's insane.

But as you can see, this was yesterday they started moving boxes over to their apartment in San Jose. So they are at square one right. They're at the starting life together honeymoon phase. Now our middle child Elizabeth just graduated with her master's and just this past Wednesday she started a brand new job at a brand new startup company in a brand new career field and her husband Jordan also just finished his master's this year so he is launching a brand new ministry to youth in Redwood City. So they're both at the next stage which is launching new careers together.

So that's our youngest, our middle and our oldest Jonathan and his wife Kelly. They are doing the first big remodel on their home as new homeowners and they happen to have two little ones that you may have heard about Freddie and Danny too and Freddie just had his third birthday yesterday so they are in their next phase which is building their little nest together and Laurie and I in two weeks will be empty nesters as all of these characters have now moved out so we are starting that brand new phase of our existence.

And by the way Laurie's mom June she just moved into a senior living complex and she told us I really believe that this Lord willing will be my final move and so that's also a new phase for her. So every single one of us is starting a new phase right and so I realized yesterday that consequently basically all that we have been talking about for about the last two or three months of our lives because this is literally we are all doing this simultaneously within a space of three or four weeks we are all going into these new phases.

So all we've been talking about around our house like a hundred percent of our conversation has been about our plans for the immediate future about our plans for the move about our plans for the wedding about our plans for launching the new career about our plans for the remodel about our plans for the birthday parties and that means that the verses that we are going to study today in the book of James are rivetingly relevant for our family because these are verses that are precisely about how to plan for the next new phase in your life.

So I've just been like I can't stop reading these verses and studying these verses now that's us but what about you what are your plans what are you looking forward to for some of you it's man I can't wait to graduate want to graduate got one or two more years to go or I'd like to get married or we're married we'd like to have kids or we would like to buy a home for others it's raising our kids to be good godly citizens or we want to downsize because now we're empty nesters for some of you it's I need to grow my career or grow my own business or I'd like to retire.

For many people here it's I need to help my parents as they're sick they need help these are all major phases of life and whatever phase of life you're in right now and I probably miss many of them you're probably making plans making plans for the future is really part of being human we make plans we make plans for lunch we make plans for vacation.

Well the Bible says there are four common yet major mistakes when it comes to planning for your future that almost everyone makes they're sneaky but almost everybody makes these mistakes because we don't see the big picture and that's what James is going to help us with in the Bible verses we look at today. Grab your message notes that look like this every day sacred is our name for our verse by verse summer series in the book of James this is a book of the Bible all about how to take your faith and apply it to your gritty daily life right.

And there could not be a more practical passage in the book of James than the one we're gonna look at today making your plans sacred bringing the sacred bringing what you say you believe into your everyday plans for your family for your future for your business and James says you got to be aware of these four classic mistakes and he's gonna illustrate these mistakes with an imaginary conversation between two people.

So to make it 21st century Silicon Valley area let's say one of them has his MBA from Stanford and the other one's the CEO of his Silicon Valley startup and they are talking they're discussing their plans for the future and in James 4:13 we drop into their conversation James says look here you who say today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town we will stay there a year we will do business there and make a profit how do you know what your life will be like tomorrow.

Now let's stop right there because excuse me James is going to start critiquing these two fellas who are having this conversation and my question when I first read this at first glance is what is so wrong with what they just said these are two guys who are entrepreneurs two people who are entrepreneurs they've got business plans what's the problem with what they're saying what is James so upset about?

I mean just think about this for a second I mean people around here have this kind of conversation all the time so what is the big deal we have this kind of conversation about ministry we have this conversation about business we have this kind of conversation about vacation what is he trying to make sure we avoid? Well James is going to go on and critique not really what these two people say but he's going to critique sort of an underlying attitude that can end up biting you in the end but it doesn't have to if you stay aware of these four common mistakes that are very subtle almost unspoken mistakes when it comes to planning for the future.

There's three things that I overestimate and there's one thing that I tend to overlook so jot these down these are really going to help you in your life and in mine. Mistake number one is this I overestimate my control right I overestimate the power that I have to influence outcomes. Let me ask for a show of hands how many of you have discovered yet that most things in your life are actually out of your control has anybody discovered this yet?

Right you can't control the weather you can't control how your kids are going to behave you can't control what other people think about you you can't control the economy you can't control the business climate you can't control most things like James says how do you know what your life will be like tomorrow let alone a year from now?

Now what is he saying about planning what's the point? Let me put it this way as you probably know this weekend it's the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing how many of you remember exactly where you were when this happened fascinating how fast time flies right? Well when JFK said in 1961 we will send a man to the moon think about this we didn't have the equipment we didn't have the expertise we didn't have the rockets we didn't have the computers we didn't know we had no idea how to do it and yet it happened just eight years later footprints on the moon.

So really the Apollo program is such an example of planning well for the future right? So I asked myself what did the Apollo program teach us about planning well? Many articles about it make this same point but I specifically found an article by a professional project manager named Emily Bonnie and she says one big lesson is this planning is important but don't be afraid to modify the plan on the fly.

And she gives this example you might know that on the descent to the landing site the computer that was in the lunar landing module got overloaded and in these critical here they've gotten all the way to the moon to flying down to the surface of the moon they've got 60 seconds left and in that critical 60 seconds the computer kept shutting down kept rebooting not once not twice not three times not four times but five times in a row it kept shutting down and rebooting because it was overloaded right in the middle of the landing sequence.

And so Neil Armstrong had to take manual control of the lunar module and just kind of navigate it with the thrusters himself while Buzz Aldrin his co-pilot verbally fed him altitude and speed data that he was just reading because everything everything was broken everything shut down and they landed on the moon surface with just 25 seconds worth of fuel left.

It was basically like you and a friend trying to dock your motorboat at the gas station in the harbor that's a that's what they'd after all the computer simulations that's what it what came down to but if they hadn't adjusted hadn't acted hadn't been flexible if they would have just stuck to the plan this is what we plan for this is what we trained for it could have been a disaster.

So she says remember even watch this even the most well thought-out project plans will need to be altered because circumstances change new opportunities arise she says don't be so rigid in your planning that you fail to adapt when you need to.

Well at one very basic level this is what James is saying here he's saying you just don't know and so you've got to stay flexible you've got to adjust don't say here is what's going to happen absolutely like you can foretell the future. Now I want to ask you a question because this is an area where I got messed up when I was younger is James saying therefore it is wrong to make plans is that what he's saying? I'll ask you the question is planning ahead wrong yes or no?

No the Bible talks a ton about planning here's just three verses Proverbs 14:8 the wise man looks ahead or Proverbs 16:1 we can make our plans or Proverbs 16:8 we should make plans so it's wise we can do it we should do it but then the second half of these verses always says something like counting on God to direct us.

And it's not saying necessarily you're going to hear an audible voice or feel something a quiver in your liver or something that you're gonna go okay I better change my plans and do this it's just saying he is just going to direct you can count on it you may not sense it you may not think it you may not know it until ten years later you look back and you go I can totally see how God was directing my steps the whole time because I wanted to go this way and then those doors closed and I ended up going this way.

Now I can see in retrospect how God was moving all the chess pieces even though I didn't sense it at the time this is what he's saying go ahead and plan counting on the fact that God is sovereign and he will direct you because you are not in control of so many factors but God is.

So the solution James says I need to remember the Lord of my life remember who is Lord like we talked about last weekend remember God not do that with me one more time God not. James is continuing that train of thought so James says what you ought to say is if the Lord wants us to we will live and do this or that and there's lots of examples of this in the Bible for example in Acts 18 the believers in one city beg the Apostle Paul to stay with them and he says he's going to leave but he says I'll come back to you again if God wills.

Here's what I want to do Lord willing now here's the problem this phrase Lord willing say that out loud with me Lord willing that can become kind of a Christian cliche right Lord willing for a lot of people and this is I want to address this because this is where I was at sort of as a teenager and a young adult this gets thrown out there almost like a magic phrase almost like a superstition and not just in Christianity and other religions too like I better say you know if God wills or Lord willing or there might be a lightning bolt coming down from heaven or something and maybe you knew somebody who was super religious and they just threw this out all the time and it drove you crazy right just ending every other sentence Lord willing Lord willing.

You're at dinner and hey can you pass the salad well Lord willing I'll get that salad pass to you Lord willing I won't stab you with my fork for saying Lord willing all the time right so I want to clarify this you don't James is not saying you need to say this out loud all the time the Lord willing attitude shouldn't be a superstition but a conviction does that make sense?

You don't need to say Lord willing to keep God from zapping you or to go to get God to bless your plans because you're saying this magic phrase but it has to be a conviction deep in your heart deep in your heart what James is saying is you have this conviction I have sought wise counsel I have prayed about this I believe to the best of my understanding that what I'm planning on doing here is right on the side of the Lord but I could be wrong and so I give God I consciously give God carte blanche to change my plans at any time his will is best I believe his will is best for the world best for me best for the kingdom of God and so whatever he wants that's what I want to.

James is talking about that attitude in your heart now watch this different people need to apply this in different ways so I want to do kind of a personality test here all right there's lots of different personalities that human beings have but there's two big ways that you can differentiate people one is this some of you have a driver personality okay that means your take charge people your get things done people you are planners you go on vacation and every moment is planned you go to Disneyland you're like at 853 a.m. we will be in line for Space Mountain synchronize your watches family right that if that's you raise your hand you are a driver you're a go-getter lots of drivers here today.

Okay for driver personalities the Lord willing God is sovereign attitude leads you to humility where you hold your plans not not in a closed hand but in an open hand because you're consciously saying these are my plans but God can change these plans anytime he wants to I don't know about you but I always cringe when I hear pastors or Christian leaders of other ministries say things like God spoke to us and God told us to do this we really sense the Lord's calling this direction we really believe God is directing us this way and this is God's will and then God changes the circumstances and now they're stuck because it's like well do I lose credibility by saying we're gonna change the plan that I said was God's plan or do we march forward anyway because I told them this was God's plan.

The way to avoid that trap is humility you say for example in a building campaign like we are in right now for the 2020 vision building the College Ministry Center and coffee house you say we think that this is best but the Lord can change his plan for us however he wants to he doesn't he doesn't seem to be changing our plans for that we are the doors are opening right but as of now this is what we're doing this is where we're going because we believe this is the right thing to do yet we're totally flexible and open to God changing direction right humility.

Okay now here's the next personality type how many of you tend to be more cautious and you're almost like I love this verse because I hate planning I hate making decisions you go on vacation and nothing is planned you're just totally go with the flow and you're like yay an anti-planning verse finally I don't like plans I don't like schedules I don't believe in budgets I don't believe in plans yay raise your hand if that's you.

You know what's funny is we actually had more I would say enthusiastic drivers which is the driver personality right the drivers are like you're asking me to raise my head yes something to do and the cautious people like I I don't know am I okay yes well what this is saying for you is that you can make plans with confidence when it comes to decision-making see because maybe you think I don't want to you know say the Lord told me because I could be wrong right I've been wrong lots of times so how can I ever make a decision and confidently say this is God's will and since I can't do that like driver types seem to be able to do then I guess I can't move forward.

Well what this allows you to have is confidence because you don't need to say I know exactly what to do you don't have to ever say that but you can move forward with life because you can say you know what I think this is right and if it's not I'm inviting the Lord to redirect my steps totally so more humility for the confident and more confidence for the humble isn't that great that's what it means to acknowledge the sovereignty of God.

I wanted to spend most of my time on this first point I overestimate the control I have over outcomes because that's so huge but there's three more things on this list and mistake number two is this I overestimate my time the time I have to make a difference.

James says your life is like the morning fog it's here a little while and then it's gone or in the case of Santa Cruz in July it's here and then it's still here right. James is saying two things life is so unpredictable first of all and secondly life is so brief for every one of us you know look at the screen to describe human lifespans do a word study on this sometime in the Bible and look at the word pictures the Bible uses to describe your life in my life.

Here's some of the imagery in the Bible the Bible talks about us being like a leaf that falls or like grass that withers or dew that evaporates or a shadow or a cloud or a vapor and it's so healthy to see that and it doesn't have to be morbid it's just being realistic. I'll never forget I heard Dan Patrick the famous sportscaster and he was talking about an injured player once and he says he's listed as day-to-day but then aren't we all and I thought that is so good we're all just day-to-day and you might have heard this past May he disclosed his own very major health issues and maybe that's why he said this this was on his mind.

None of us is guaranteed tomorrow says James and so the solution is not to worry about that not to stress about it it's just to remember the brevity of life. This week an app called face app went viral you might have heard about it you put in your face and you get to see what you'd look like when you're old right well I love that celebrities like Steph Curry did it and he still got his mouth guard in even though he's old clay Thompson did this LeBron James did this and posted a picture of himself but I think all this is a good reminder one day that's gonna be me right and you maybe you're there right now and again don't let that depress you it means value each day as a precious gift because you and your friends and family will never be this way the way you are today you will never be again you won't be this way tomorrow.

You know Moses wrote one psalm that we know of Psalm 90:12 and in one of the verses he says in fact let's read this out loud together would you read Psalm 90:12 with me teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

This week I decided to literally do this number my days and I googled it there's a bunch of websites that will tell you your life estimate right and it started out pretty encouraging I am not making this up I did this on Thursday and this is the order that I actually went in I went onto the John Hancock insurance company site you enter all your medical data and so on and they said I'd live to be 95 so I felt pretty good about that but it went downhill from there next side I checked said I'd live to be 88 so within about 10 seconds I lost seven years the next site said 78 and in fact it projected my exact date of death would be Monday May 9th 2039 less than 20 years from now.

Then the next site said you have 11 years 10 months two days 21 hours 15 minutes and nine seconds left and the next said I'd die on Friday March 28th 2025 less than five years from now so at that point I stopped checking sites because clearly checking longevity sites is bad for my health right my numbers kept going down I was worried that the next one would say congratulations you're going today my friend I just stopped.

But the point is my days left do have a number and it's not this it's not infinity not my life here on earth on this earth and it's important to keep that in mind so healthy actually so encouraging to acknowledge this because it's when I live with some sense that quantities are limited for me and everybody I know that I actually remember to value every day and I remember to pause and feel the sunshine on my skin and breathe in the ocean air and enjoy moments with my family because what's the opposite of this thinking there's always gonna be time to spend with my kids with my family my friends right now I can't spend a lot of time with all these people because I'm just trying to make ends meet but once we reach a certain economic level then I'm gonna spend more time my kids with my spouse with my friends.

But here is a problem somebody said this is the Silicon Valley syndrome what starts out as a temporary condition becomes a permanent lifestyle because even when you get to a point where you could actually have some margin you could work some margin into your schedule and spend some time with some of these people you don't do it because by habit you are just in fully hundred percent work mode all the time and you can't relax anymore because that's how you've trained yourself to be.

So this is why we deliberately have to do these mental exercises and to kind of number our days and get a reality check so try this as a mental exercise if you knew you had only one week left how would you spend it just think about that for a second almost all of us would say I'd spend more time with the family right nobody would go I would spend one more day with that beautiful beautiful org chart where I'm just two boxes below the CEO it's so beautiful nobody would do that right even though that's what we seem to be striving for in our lives sometimes we'd spend time with family.

Okay if you knew you only had one year left how would you spend it spend more time with family and friends right? Okay if you knew you had only ten years left do you see what I'm getting at whatever the quantity is it's limited and being aware of that helps you be present be there when you're with kids or your spouse or friends because those times are limited and you can never get them back.

And so I overestimate my time I overestimate my control and the mistake number three is this I overestimate my importance I get this idea that I am so important and so indispensable it was the famous French leader Charles de Gaulle who said the graveyards are filled with indispensable people great quote.

James says acknowledge God in your daily life verse 16 otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans and all such boasting is evil. Okay why is boasting why is pride boasting about your own pretentious plans like this is the way it's gonna go come hell or high water I got it all figured out why is that evil not because it's like on a list of sins it's evil because it's destructive to yourself it's self-destructive to do that.

Why over and over the Bible speaks against this kind of attitude a pretentious prideful attitude it says things like pride ends in humiliation while humility brings honor so those are kind of your two choices in life right humility now or humiliation later and I choose humility now personally because pride sabotages your life.

Another verse Proverbs 13:10 pride leads to conflict those who take advice are wise this is a fascinating verse because look at this pride leads to conflict but it's it's contrasting that attitude with those who take advice and are wise you see what it's saying prideful people who think they they've got it all worked out their plans are flawless don't you dare correct me they don't take advice and that leads to conflict.

Why let's say you're trying to hang a picture at home right it's you and somebody else you're working on a picture and and you say you know what I think you're hanging the picture a little bit too high you're talking about a nail and a picture and a wall but a prideful person is going to hear that as being about themselves and they're gonna say don't you dare tell me how to hang a picture I've been hanging pictures longer than you've been alive I had a plan for this thing I have a vision and my vision is going to happen and this is why pride is so dangerous when it comes to planning proud people have a very hard time taking advice.

So James says don't think your own pretentious plans are flawless don't go it's my way or the highway I'm not gonna take advice from somebody you're not the center of the universe you are not omniscient the solution James says is to remember God in other words remember the context of your life remember your place in the universe.

James says who are you and that's not he's not putting you down this isn't about putting yourself down it's just about acknowledging I'm not the center of the universe God's in the center and at best what I'm doing when I'm living in harmony with reality is I'm orbiting around the true center of the universe God though the universe does not bend to my will right and this actually takes so much pressure off your shoulders this helps so much when it comes to planning because it means you say I don't have to have perfect plans I don't have to pretend like I've got it all figured out I'm completely humble and non-defensive and willing and able to take input.

So James says there are three things I overestimate all human beings do when it comes to making plans in some degree or another I overestimate my control my time and my importance and and you see how in context we've been talking the last couple of weekends James is in a series of verses where he's talking about pride and how pride versus humility lead to totally different outcomes in life.

So three things I tend to overestimate and finally there's something I overlook and this is mistake number four I overlook my opportunities opportunities that God puts all around me for doing good and here's how James wraps up this sequence of verses he says remember it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Now what does this verse have to do with his train of thought where he's been talking about planning well just this you know you ought to fill in the black help somebody out invite somebody over for dinner give them a call see how they're doing and these are the types of things that fall to the bottom of the to-do list and we always end up putting them off because we're so busy with other plans and this is a major issue.

Jesus said when it comes to following him he said anybody who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the kingdom of God he's saying he said the same made the same point in the parable of the sower and the seeds we we can have faith and yet then get distracted by the busyness of our plans and we stick to our plan even when God's putting something else in our lives that day that's actually a ministry opportunity.

Man and I relate to this I'm guilty of this all the time like Rick Warren pastor in Southern California says if the devil can't make you bad he'll make you busy right so what's the solution it's to remember the purpose of my life I'm not just here you're not just here to make a living we're here to be ambassadors for God's kingdom.

So let's you know take that neighbor some cookies invite that friend over for dinner invite those neighbors to church this is of all four points this is the one that really really really convicts me because I can let the busyness of my plans drown out things that I know I should do just to spread God's love.

And in case you're going well how do I know what God wants me to do here's a grid to put it through somebody said here's an easy way to remember your purpose in life the best use of time is to love right that's the greatest commandment love God love people and the best time to love is now.

I love that the best use of time is love and the best time to love is now and I want to tell you a story to illustrate this this one really got me I don't know if you saw this story a while back about two older folks named Ed and Florine Hale more than 60 years ago the two met at a party and it was love at first sight and when Ed went to Florine's parents to ask for her hand in marriage they refused because Florine had a broken body and a broken heart her husband had perished in a car accident three months previous she had been really injured severely herself and she had been widowed only three months into her marriage to this man.

So her parents said we don't want her to be widowed twice we don't want her heart to be broken again and they were feeling very protective about Florine but Ed wouldn't take no for an answer and so he said I promise you that as much as it depends on me I will not abandon her I will be there every day of her life and I'm going to try he said to take care of my health to the point where I can have reasonable assurance that I'm going to outlive her because I don't want her to be widowed again either.

So this was his plan but he was open to God you know changing it however so recently Ed had to be hospitalized with kidney failure and Florine's health also took a turn for the worst she was hospitalized with pneumonia but in a different hospital 35 miles away but Ed said I promised I'd be there with her and her pneumonia was getting really bad and and the hospital where Florine was hospitalized agreed to accept Ed only if he was strong enough to make the 35 mile ambulance trip.

And as if by miracle Ed rallied for the ride and the hospital prepared this room for the couple where two beds were pushed together so they could lie next to each other and hold hands as Florine faded away and by the way do you notice she's got a bow in her hair you know still wanted to look good for Ed.

Well Florine was pronounced dead the morning after Ed's arrival at 82 and Ed said I made it he said I got to walk her all the way home as I promised and Ed followed one day later and I read that and I thought wow that's a man who got who got it that the best time to love is now because you are not guaranteed tomorrow.

So he was like I gotta get to her bedside today and it turned out for him today was all he had with her and so my question for you is are you allowing your plans to take your time and your life energy from the people and the things that are really the most valuable?

Now listen I don't want you to leave discouraged I want you to leave encouraged right I don't want you to just leave going I just regret all those things that I didn't do no leave encouraged by all the cool stuff you know celebrate the things that are yet to be done in your life it's exciting.

And so the question that this passage begs is this how can I make a difference and and and touch people's lives without the kind of arrogance that James is critiquing here right how can I have a plan and agenda to make an impact without pride?

Well as always look how Jesus did it the Bible says keep your eyes on Jesus who both began and finished this race we're in study how he did it because he never lost sight of where he was headed he could put up with anything along the way cross shame whatever and now he's there in the place of honor right alongside God.

Study how he did it I mean look Jesus was the epitome of a strong world-changing leader right and yet he did it in total humility total submission to the father he had an absolute focused plan he knew what he was about yet he still took days off the Bible talks about it he even took naps the Bible talks about it and even he prayed father not my will but yours be done.

And Jesus isn't just our example he's our Savior when we realize that everything we have in life is by his grace my salvation is a free gift by his grace and and his continued love of me is not earned by my performance it's all a gift of grace and my ability to make plans that follow through on plans that's all by his grace then workaholism is is blunted then I don't live a life of performance orientation because I don't have to prove myself to anybody it's all by grace.

So how do I actually live like this man named Bob Pierce founded World Vision that's a mission organization that helps hurting people all over the planet he has literally saved millions of lives through his organization. Well near the end of his life people asked him how is it that you have sort of the drive and the vision of like a Silicon Valley CEO and yet everybody who meets you says you're the most godly humble peaceful man that they know how do you how do you account for that?

And he said this he said early on he learned to pray a very simple prayer Lord I give you the right to change my agenda any time you like without informing me in advance and he said that gave him permission to both be a driver but to do it with total humility.

I love that and your life and mind will be more more effective and peaceful if we learn to pray a prayer like that the big idea today is this move forward trusting in God move forward don't be paralyzed by indecision that you're gonna make a an unwise choice move forward but trusting in God saying God I await your adjustment I will stay flexible.

So the question as we move into prayer is this where do you need to move forward in your life? You can do it with confidence and humility some of you the place you need to move forward is giving your life totally to God you've been thinking maybe for months coming here to TLC someday I'm gonna give my life to the Lord why not today none of us is guaranteed tomorrow.

So would you bow in a word of prayer with me let's pray together with our heads bowed would you simply pray a prayer like Bob pierces in your heart Lord I just give you the right to change my agenda anytime you want without informing me in advance so much power and so much peace to be found in that when it comes to applying that to your career your plans for your family for vacation everything.

But with our heads still bowed maybe you've never opened your life to Jesus Christ or maybe you're not sure you have here's a chance to simply do what the Bible talks about and give your life to Christ and pray something like this in your heart Lord I want to acknowledge you as the center I want you to be the leader the boss the Lord in my life I want you to call the shots I want to surrender totally to you and so I ask you to come into my life help me to understand it more what you did for me on the cross but I submit myself to you today and Lord help us to realize that you hold the keys to the future and when we realize that that is the most peaceful place to live in Jesus name amen.