Plans and Schedules

His son loved baseball and summer plans were often adjusted to fit the baseball tournament schedule. One thing that always got pushed out every summer was his son’s desire to be involved with the church youth work week. This was a coordinated, multi-church mission trip to a small town or community in need of home repair work.

In high school, the young man planned well ahead of time that he was going to make the mission trip that summer. He put it on the schedule and gave his baseball coach a heads-up that he might miss a tournament. Instead of reacting to a schedule he planned ahead and managed his schedule to serve his priorities. Is your schedule dictated by your plans, or are your plans dictated by your schedule?

“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” – Luke 19:30. Jesus’ plan was to fulfill the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9. The disciples found the colt and brought it to Jesus right on schedule. “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” – Luke 22:10-11. Jesus’ plan was to have accommodations for the Last Supper. The disciples followed His instructions and made the necessary preparations for the Passover right on schedule. “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” – Luke 22:48. Jesus’ plan was to obey His Father by setting the Passion in motion. Judas led a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders to arrest Him right on schedule. God’s plan was to reconnect what got disconnected with man in the original garden, relationship with Him. Jesus’ virgin birth, sinless life, obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross, resurrection and ascension back to His Father provided the Way to relationship with the Father through Him right on schedule. In Matthew 4:1-11, after Jesus’ baptism, the devil did his best to introduce a different schedule to implement his plan. But Jesus rebuked the devil’s effort to entice and distract Him from carrying out His Father’s plan.

Today, BUSY-ness seems to dominate every family’s schedule. BUSY stands for Being Under Satan’s Yoke. Packed schedules can completely overwhelm any semblance of a family’s plan for a given season. It is important to understand that one of the devil’s best schemes is to stir up busy-ness. Oswald Chambers has said, “It is not sin that keeps us from our best. It is all the good stuff we do that keeps us too busy to be our best.” As this new school year gets underway, certainly there will be a lot to put on the calendar. Evaluate as a family if the schedule is controlling your plans, or if you have a plan as a family that is controlling your schedule. Be honest. Your best is in the balance.

Prayer guide: Thank You Lord for Your word and Your plan for redemption. I confess that my schedule, my BUSY-ness has distracted me from Your plan for my life. I am even unknowingly passing on a life of busy-ness to my kids. Forgive me. I want Your plan for my life to dictate my schedule. Grant me clarity in Your word and strength in Your spirit to live as a child of You, a brother with Jesus the Christ (Rom.8:15) that obeys You right on schedule. That is the dad You call me to be and that is the dad my kids need to see. Amen.

A faithful father obeys God’s plan right on schedule.