One scripture that keeps coming back to me is Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish ... ." In the original language, the word "perish" literally means "to cast off restraint." I think it's a good explanation for my rocky spiritual growth in the past 8 years.
It might be a large problem in a lot of our lives. A common meme in the church is that, "Man makes plans and God laughs." While man-made plans fail to meet God's standards, we often don't dig deep enough to find out what God's plans for our lives are. If we're not looking hard enough to discover what His purpose for our lives are, we're likely to "cast off restraint," because we see no point in our spiritual lives.
Jesus wasn't a guy who floated around like a leaf in the breeze; He knew what His purpose was. In Matthew 16, it says, " ... Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." He was predicting his own crucifixion. Peter, as we may know, rebuked Jesus, and Jesus responded with the famous line, "Get behind me, Satan!" Jesus knew what His mission was, and he wasn't going to let Peter's words derail it.
Every major company has a mission and vision statement. I doubt any successful people or companies succeed without a plan. In fact, we've seen how myopic planning has ruined the economy in the past few years.
I'm excited with what God's doing with my life, and I think he has some great plans for me. However, I need to stay in close fellowship with God to know where He wants me. He won't reveal all the details, but I know He won't keep me in the dark about everything. Only my inaction can do that.
