Oh, the Plans We Have Made!

A new variant of COVID, a new set of travel restrictions (for southern Africa), and a whole lot of plans dashed to pieces! Perhaps one of the more frustrating things about living through a pandemic is the fate of our carefully laid plans. I do not only mean the inconvenience of rescheduling flights and delaying various activities, as annoying as those are. Included in the plans that have been dashed these last few years are those made by the people who became ill or died during this time.

We all seem to love planning – we like to think about the future of our careers, where and how we will live, where we will go during the next holiday, and what we will do when we retire. When these carefully laid plans go awry, we feel frustrated, angry and disappointed – how dare this person/political system/disease interfere with all of our wonderful plans? The desire to plan ahead probably involves many motivations, but here I will focus on two particular, linked motivations: creating a sense of security and a sense of purpose for our lives.

Sadly, I have seen first-hand what happens when someone’s carefully laid plan was suddenly destroyed. A friend of mine worked faithfully his whole life, made wise financial decisions, and travelled all over South Africa before finding the perfect location for his retirement. With enough money to retire in reasonable comfort, he set about making his house self-sufficient by installing a solar system for electricity and collecting rainwater from his roof to meet his water needs (for those living in South Africa, getting off our unreliable grid is a dream). He then settled down to enjoy the fruits of his labour in quiet retirement.

That all changed dramatically due to a heart attack and subsequent open-heart surgery. Since the operation, his health has not recovered – he spent months in excruciating pain, lost so much weight as to be on the brink of starvation, and has suffered many other complications. His lovely little self-sufficient house stands empty, while he has gone from hospital to old-age home. In a moment, without warning, his life was turned upside down. He now wonders whether life is worth living at all.

This tragedy reminded me of a parable Jesus told: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ (Luke 12:16-20).

This parable was told about 2,000 years ago; this way of thinking is not new and it was just as prevalent among people then as it is now. I think that the Lord had two issues with the man in His parable: the purpose for which he saved his goods and his false sense of security. The man’s reasoning behind storing his goods was so that he could live a life of ease and pleasure, which he felt had been secured through his well-laid plans. In the parable, the man died that night and his plans came to naught. Jesus pointed out that his security was an illusion and his purposes were ultimately in vain.

Our plans are not only for retirement, however, as we also plan where to go and what to do with our time (particularly holiday time) on a short-term basis. Yet many of these plans have the same weaknesses as our long-term plans – they give us a false sense of security and an illusion of purpose. The security comes from the idea that we are controlling our own destinies – we plan a holiday, event, or career choice, and then expect to follow through with them. When the plans do work out, we feel satisfied – we are the captains of our own ships, and the ship is going in the right direction. Without plans to execute, our lives would feel rudderless and helpless, yet when our plans come to fruition we feel like we are in control.

James treats these short-term plans in a similar way to how Jesus treated long-term plans: Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Desires for security and purpose are essential human characteristics, and are among the many things that set us apart from animals. This is why we get so upset when our short-term plans disintegrate and are devastated when our long-term plans collapse – the illusion of security and purpose that we have so carefully crafted evaporates and we are left with stark reality. A reality that King Solomon eloquently described as vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Eccl. 1:2).

As with many things that exist within the human psyche, there is a very good reason for these burning desires. Rather than deluding ourselves into thinking that we are living secure, purposeful lives, we need to seek out why we have these desires in the first place and then fulfil them with something real and true. The entire Book of Ecclesiastes is a rich description of the search for purpose, as Solomon examines each possible reason for living and declares them all to be ‘vanity’, until the final few verses where he concludes:

Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. (Eccl. 12:13-14).

Once we have found our true purpose as created beings to live in reverent obedience to our Creator, then we will find the other thing that we seek – security. This security is not just for this life, and sometimes our lives on earth will continue to seem insecure despite having a relationship with God (I still don’t even know which country I will be living in during 2022!). The security we receive from the Lord is far greater than that. Regardless of what happens in this life – whether our short- or long-term plans work out – we will be with Him for eternity.

With true purpose and security comes God’s peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:6-7). This is the peace that stays with us even when our plans are turned upside down and our lives seem to be chaotic and unsettled. Living with the sole purpose of obeying God and with a child-like trust in Him puts all of our current anxieties and problems into a new perspective. Flights cancelled? Perhaps the Lord wants me to stay where I am for now. Lost my job? God will provide in His own way. Health difficulties? Let Him lead me through the suffering and grow my faith. Relationship problems? I am in God’s school of instruction where He teaches me how to love.

This is not to say that all planning is evil and that we should have no desire at all to do things and go places. In his travels, Paul frequently made plans to go from one city to another to preach the gospel and strengthen the churches he had established. Yet these plans were often thwarted. In one example, he says that he frequently planned to visit the church in Rome, yet these plans were always hindered (Rom. 1:13-15). When he did get to Rome, it was certainly not “according to plan” – he was taken prisoner in Jerusalem, evaded several murder attempts, narrowly survived a shipwreck, and was finally brought to Rome in chains. I doubt whether anyone whose travel plans have been dashed due to COVID-19 would be willing to compare their inconveniences with Paul!

Paul’s decision to live only for God’s purpose and leave his security in God’s hands did not result in all his plans working out or an easy, pleasurable life. Yet what he gained instead of ease and pleasure was far more valuable – joy and contentment (Phil. 4:4-13). When he approached the end of his life, he described it thus: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Tim. 4:7). Paul had found a true purpose for living and was absolutely secure in the knowledge that the Lord would reward him in eternity.

I don’t think any of us will get to the end of our lives and reflect that everything went perfectly according to plan. Most of us will come to the end before we have finished doing everything we wanted to do. Many will feel pangs of regret after realising that their life was ultimately purposeless, or experience the chilling horror of insecurity when faced with death. Yet Paul shows us that this ending is not inevitable. Life can have real meaning and death can be met with confidence, provided that we find our ultimate purpose and security in Jesus Christ.