Where is your life going? What path are you on? How will you get there? What legacy are you building with your life? If these questions freak you out or make you go “uhhhh.”, then keep reading this post.

We have been going through the book of Proverbs together at The Well and the original audience of Proverbs was young people who were stepping out into the world facing big decisions. The purpose? Give them wisdom. That’s what we need. Career? College? Major? Dating? Marriage? Kids? Budget? Buying a house? Yep, we need wisdom.

HAVE A PLAN

Proverbs says that the “simple believes anything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps (14:15). The simple person just floats naively by, and ends up wasting or ruining his life. Nobody wants that, but it happens. Proverbs was written to give prudence to the simple (1:4). To go from being simple to being wise, or prudent, we need to plan for our lives; to give thought to the steps we are taking and the direction we are going. Most young people are not doing this. But you can.

Here are three major ideas we see in Proverbs about making plans for our life:

PLAN WITH PRAYER

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established” (Proverbs 16:3)

God must be at the center of your plans. Trust Him, and commit your work to Him. Finding time to retreat and be silent before God, and listen to Him, is foundational to plan-making.

PLAN WITH WISE COUNSEL

“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22)

No counsel leads to failed plans. Get some people who are wiser than you to give you insight as you make your plans. Don’t be afraid to ask people you look up to in your church, it honors them and helps you.

PLAN WITH OPEN HANDS

“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:1)

Make your plans, but know that God has the final word. His plans will override yours sometimes, which is good, since God is smarter than you. You need to trust Him, hold your plans loosely, and be ready to make adjustments.

NEXT STEPS

As you begin intentionally praying for and planning for your life, here are some links and tools to help connect you to wise counsel, or take a next step toward the goals God:

• COMMUNITY – Get connected to a Community Group at WBCC here.
• SERVING – Email our staff to use your gifts for God’s kingdom in the community here.
• BUDGET HELP – Easy tool to make a simple budget from Dave Ramsey here.
• JOB & RESUME HELP – The Job Seekers Network (through Hill Country) here.
• SCHOOL HELP – Get in touch with an ACC advisor here, or a UT advisor here.

-Holland