Planning My Work, Working My Plan

Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established.
(Proverbs 16:3)

A construction company I’m familiar with has the words, “established 1988” after their name. For the founders of the company, the year they were established was the year of their beginning. The company believes they exist for a specific purpose and they exist to achieve that purpose. Sadly, some companies begin and never become established. They just exist. Our lives can be lived in much the same way. We celebrate birthdays year after year. But sometimes we are only celebrating an existence, not an establishment. We never live with a purpose. We never understand that we are established. Built with a plan and purpose in mind.
The saddest thing I continue to see is people dying without knowing why they lived. The despair hangs heavy around people who do not know the reason they were formed. Living life without living on purpose is only marking time. It is painful to endure the trials of aging and face the reality that our years have been squandered.
When we give our lives to God, He never wastes it. No matter when we give them. He has a purpose for me being established. The purpose extends beyond my generation. He is building a Kingdom. And to be a worker in the Kingdom, I must surrender my plans. It’s not my kingdom that we build.

I. MY WORK MUST FOLLOW AN ESTABLISHED PLAN. Planning your work and working your plan is a man’s method of working. If God is working, then He is following His plan and not mine. I should be intentional in discovering God’s plan and working With Him.
II. WHEN I COMMIT MY WORK TO THE LORD, HE HAS ALREADY ESTABLISHED MY PLAN. Once I know God’s plan, I am to join in His work. This is the only way my work ever has eternal value. God establishes His plan and puts His desire into my heart. Then He extends an invitation. When God’s plan becomes my plan, it is established.
III. GOD ESTABLISHES MY PLAN AFTER HE EXAMINES MY MOTIVES. God is not interested in establishing my plans for building my kingdom. He is interested in establishing my plans for building His kingdom. He is interested in building His kingdom in accordance with His workable plans and His purposes. God knows the reason we work for him. Is it a labor of love? Do we love the recognition of being a kingdom builder? Whose kingdom are we building? Do we love God and desire what is in His heart?

WHY WE WORK FOR GOD IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT WE DO FOR HIM.