Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (Prov. 16:3, ESV)
The game of golf involves many aspects, with strategy being particularly important yet often overlooked. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, strategy means skillfully planning and managing. Even though you might swing the club perfectly, it won’t matter much if you don’t have a well-thought-out plan for each shot and how you’ll tackle the whole course.
Smart golfers consider crucial details like distance, pin placement, weather variables, and other course challenges even before they tee off. Not having a clear plan on the golf course can lead to frustration, struggling with obstacles, and finding yourself in difficult situations.
Similarly, in life, without a clear plan, you can feel lost, confused, insecure, sad, and even hopeless. The Bible is clear that God does have a plan for us: “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good, not for harm, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV).
From before the time you were born, God has carefully planned your life journey: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16 ESV). This knowledge is truly reassuring, knowing that God has everything planned for us, day by day.
With this awesome knowledge that God in His divine providence has planned every step for us in our life journey here on earth, how do we figure out our life’s strategy if we do not know it? Are you needing a sense of direction in your life?
The best place to discover your life strategy is submitting your heart, mind, and will to God. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
By keeping your heart and mind focused and summitted to the Lord every day, you can move through life confidently and peacefully. You can rest in his will, knowing that God knows what you need in every situation—”Your heavenly Father knows all your needs, and he will give you everything you need from day to day if you live for him and make his kingdom your primary concern” (Matthew 6:33).
If we know that God has planned every part of life, that he is the creator of our life’s course (he already has our strategy for us), that his plans are good, and that he loves us and will provide everything we need day-by-day, then seeking his advice for every decision, just like every shot in golf, becomes crucial.
His daily guidance helps us avoid hazards. Like on the golf course, God already knows the challenges we face, he sees our course in life and has already ordained our days to achieve his purposes according to his will. He is the skilled course designer who goes before us and follows us through our life (Psalm 139:5).
So, if you are struggling today on your ‘course in life’, take some time to quiet your heart and mind and spend time in the presence of God. Commit to this daily and simply ask for His help, wisdom, and direction. Watch his promises over your life blossom as you submit to him and step onto the paths that he is directing you to.
Prayer: “Lord, as we submit and seek you, let us trust in your strategic plan for our lives.”