Today we spent 5 intense hours planning out the calendar for the 2017 calendar year here at The Bridge. This comes on the heels of our team planning just a couple of weeks ago in a special meeting for our specific campus in downtown OKC. AND man does the next year look awesome! Sure, it’s time consuming, but it’s absolutely necessary. Someone once said, “If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail.” It’s true! Take the time that is necessary to plan for what is ahead.

I know that for us who are in the church world we sometimes can default to the “spontaneous leading of the Holy Spirit,” but don’t let that be a cop-out for simply being lazy. I have found in my own experience that if I don’t plan, more often than not I am the one that is left scrambling in the end – and I can definitely throw any creativity out the window. So, whether it’s planning a sermon series or something on the calendar, if the Holy Spirit wants to change up plans at the last minute I am absolutely open to that and I welcome it. In fact, I am more open to listen to His voice when I’ve already done my part.

So plan, work hard up front, and create the margin in your life, your family time, your business, or your calendar that you need so you can listen for the voice of the Lord. As Brady Boyd said in his book, Addicted to Busy, “It’s more than a little difficult to listen to God’s thoughts, when I can’t even pay attention to my own.” So carve some time out of your busy life to plan out the things that matter to you. Start with your time alone with Jesus, then your family time, and finally you can fill in the gaps with your ministry and business goals. If you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every time. So take the time to plan!