One of the questions with which I wrestled as a young leader was, "Should a Christian try to plan future direction?" James 4:14 (NIV) says, "Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow - - - you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes". I thought that meant, "Therefore, why plan?"

The next verse, however, says, "Instead, you ought to say ‘If it is the Lord'’s will, we will live and do this or that’ ". It isn’'t a matter of should we plan or not plan, but of committing the planning process to prayer and seeking God’s will, rather than our own.

Pray . . . Plan . . . Seek!