But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
At the end of each weekend, I take a few minutes to sit down and start my lists. Appointments. Prayer lists. Shopping lists. Health and fitness list. Daily routine list. To do list. Categories within the To Do List. To do lists under each category.
Hello, my name is Kimberly, and I am a planner.
It may be a problem.
List and plan. Plan and list. List and plan. This is how I pursue my day. This is how I chase my dreams. This is how I (try) to manage my life and get things done. Does it always work out the way I plan? Eh. Not so much. But it feels good to have a plan in place anyways - it helps me to quell the crazy of my sometimes chaotic life!
Can anyone relate?
The problem with the list, plan, list, plan method is that it can cause us to get caught up in those beautiful check marks and lose focus; caring more about what we’re doing – and checking off all the details - than why we’re doing it and who we’re doing it for.
What my heart desires much more than chasing a check list is to spend my days simply pursuing hope. Because Jesus is hope and my hope – my confident waiting for the promises of God to unfold -is in him and him alone. But sometimes the plans we set out for ourselves become a pursuit of happiness and buffer our pursuit of hope.
Maybe our checklist for each day should look like this:
Pursue Hope
Watch – what God is up to in my life, the life of those around me and in scripture.
Pray – worship, glorify, thank and have a conversation with God.
Wait – patiently, confidently and expectantly on the Lord to move in His time, in His way.
Maybe if we can shift our focus to these things and concern ourselves more with our relationship with God than all the things we want to do for God, everything else will happen in it’s proper, God ordained, time. Because God loves us. He knows our hearts and he hears our prayers. And his plan is bigger, better and more beautiful than any plan we could ever imagine on our own.