We Make Plans...

"This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain." Luke 12:18

My kids know when I am thinking up a plan of action for the day. Without realising it I would often say "So, here's my plan..." and it wasn't long before I couldn't get past "So..." without them immediately chiming in with "What's the plan?". Perhaps that means that I am too predictable but we love making plans, and writing out a list of things that we want to achieve throughout the day so we can cross them off as we go. I don't think that planning came naturally to me, instead it was a learned behaviour as I discovered that without some sort of plan or direction I would not achieve a great deal during any given time. So, I now like to plan and I don't think I'm the only one. There is security and comfort in planning, in knowing what is to come and what needs to be done to achieve the plan. But, like anything in life, it is a balance. In reality we don't know what today will bring and there are many times when things pan out very differently than we had expected. Sometimes the best laid plans get thrown out the window because something derails them, and that's ok.

Jesus told a story about a wealthy man who had a once in a lifetime harvest one year. It was bigger than a bumper crop; it was simply huge and with it he could retire and never work another day again. The possibilities were endless, he could probably picture what life could be like...holidays, late nights, sleep ins, travel, dining on different delicacies, a great deal of wine and even property investments. Life was going to be amazing from this point. He only had one problem, one stumbling block to this life of luxury and that was his storage issues. There was nowhere to put the grain safely. His barns were too small and the grain would become worthless if it wasn't used or packed nicely into Tupperware containers. So, he made a plan.

I often consider the language we use when we think and work through life's challenges. It is a true indication as to what is going on in our heart. So it is with this man. "This is what I will do..." It was his plan and his plan alone. He was going to tear down his barns, build bigger ones and store his surplus grain for himself. There are no other characters mentioned in this story because it was about one guy who was the centre of his own world. He did not consider any other person, or give any thought to the God who blessed him with the wealth he already had, not to mention an abundant crop. His plan was made by himself and for himself. Life was good and getting better, and up to this point many people who were listening to this story as Jesus spoke would have been congratulating this man on his wise decisions. Many people today would agree. We dream of the time when we can have enough to retire early, travel, buy more property and enjoy the life of luxury. We make plans...but often we can forget that there is a God who is the Master Planner with an eternal perspective.

Luke 12:20-21

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

v23

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

Life is like a vapor and it consists of more important things than stuff.

Jesus goes on the explain more about this and it has to do with birds and flowers...