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I’m an overplanner. I just stepped out of denial by admitting as much. That’s the first and most important step in fixing a character defect. Control is the root issue, and over planning is the symptom.

I’m not laying I shouldn’t plan out the day ahead of me, our family’s financial future or how each issue of
The NEWTON Community Magazine will get finished. We are called to be wise. There’s just truth to the idea that too much of a good thing can become bad. Let’s think about what the act of obedience looks like through the filter of planning. I talk a lot about how anxiety plagues my life. You’d think having a plan would help ease this tension. In theory, you’d be right. In practice, you’d be wrong.

The problem is that things don’t always go according to plan. It’s a guarantee that my plan will fall apart if it’s not God’s plan, too. It’s as true as gravity. I will never win fighting against it. Plus, my plan is boring in comparison to what God has in store for me. My ways are not God’s, and His ways are so much greater than mine. I will continue to plan, but I will not worship that plan or worry when it changes. Instead, I will head out in the direction I believe He wants me to go.

Instead of worrying my plan will fall apart, I want to be excited about His plan taking me down unexpected paths. To that end, I will continue to work on being obedient.

Have a great day today.
Scott Tredeau

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