Last night I was watching a sermon that was recommended to me...it is by a Ghanaian preacher Dr. Mensa Otabil... This year, he has asked members of his church to formulate a 20 year Personal Development Plan which they will be implementing until 2034...for me, this came at the right time as I am this year thinking of developing a life plan...it will span longer than the 20 years, but the sermon and the framework they are using will be a very useful input...
Anyway... as I was watching him... he came to a scripture that I quoted quite recently in a sermon I preached at church... the scripture is from Isaiah 46:9,10... and it says [Earnestly] remember the former things, [which I did] of old; for I
am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all My pleasure and purpose. (from the Amplified version)
It caught my attention how God, in His design of things, always starts at the end...what is the end product, the end He desires to see...and then works backwards from there and starts doing things, putting things in place that will get Him that desired end... we see it in the creation story...how He had an end in mind...and in the 7 days that He worked...He did things in such a manner that the order of creation created an environment for man... His ultimate creation. You see... before He made man, He made first the heavens and the earth and filled the earth with plants and animals...but before he created plants and animals...he first had to separate water from land...and also had to separate day and night. I'm sure you get the picture...
It is the same when organisations are developing their strategic plans...they first start by thinking...what is it we want to see...as an organisation after say..10 years...they look first at the desired end, the product of all their operations after 10 years...after agreeing on this, they then spend time looking at ways in which they can attain or achieve that vision they have...
As I reflected on this, I look at my own planning...how do I plan my life... I am aware that many of us make resolutions at the beginning of the year...but I find that most times... people will just focus on what they want to do...and not what they want to become... people will start with actions they want to take before looking at what exactly they see themselves becoming.
The right way for us to make plans is to first have an objective in mind...what is the goal...and then from there you work backwards and look at ways in which you can achieve that goal or objective... in doing so, you are able to break the objective down into practical steps that you can take... it is those knowing those steps that is important because you can easily monitor your progress and make adjustments if necessary...at the same time you are able to draw confidence from the victories along the way...and if at the end of the year you have not met your objective...you have at the very least started on the journey...and the journey or the process in and of itself means there has been some change and progress in your life...
With that said... it is sad that many people just go through life without having a plan and a purpose... Dr Myles Munroe says the greatest tragedy in life is a life without purpose... a lot of people have a hit or miss mentality for going through life... if ever they have a plan... it is perhaps a one year plan based on a resolution they made at the beginning of the year... as such many do not really have a measure for success... the funny thing is that whereas many don't have plans as individuals, they are involved in developing plans for the organisations they work for...maybe it is time to follow the principles that these organisations use...
I would encourage all reading this post to search for the sermon I referred to at the beginning... it is readily available on youtube... and go to this website http://www.centralgospel.com/ and get the framework for developing a 20 year plan..
Grace and peace
Wow! What a great entry! I am very much enlightened. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading, it came to mind that perhaps in the bigger things, I have been able to plan backwards. To see a picture of myself and take steps towards it. However, it is in the daily tasks that I have not really asked myself what I want to achieve in that day. It is mostly what I want to do and I probably see the end as me in bed, finally able to rest. Which, frankly doesn't tell me what I want to achieve in a day, or become in a day. It is no surprise therefore if at the end of some days, I feel like I have really done nothing of consequence. But just to think of how using this guideline would change my day is mind dazzling. It means in each day I will have at least attained goals. I don't mean here, ticked off my to do list, but more in the sense of, I can set out a task like, in this day, I want to be a better girlfriend and then on my to do list set out the steps. AMAZING!
With that I remember now, Pastor Chris's sermon HOW TO HAVE A GREAT DAY and one of the points he says is that as you are doing things in that day, also make sure that some things are done to achieve your greater goal which in this case is the life plan. Or according to my example, taking steps to be a better girlfriend in that day, will train me to be a better wife which would then be on my life plan. Thanks to this entry, I have understood that line better. I should have impact in every single day while also achieving more on a greater scale.
Also what I found very disturbing was how true it is that we spend time push lifeplans of organisations, companies, that in fact will not be held accountable for their time, while we do nothing to redeem our time....its a very provoking image that I will meditate on surely...some things have to change....Wow! Thanks.