So God has captured your heart with a powerful vision to live missionally and help change the world. He may even have brought you to a team of people who share your vision, but passion is not the only tool God gave you to achieve this goal.
As followers of Jesus, we’ve all been given a job to do. The same job He gave to the disciples:
Jesus sent His disciples with very little, but He did give them a plan. In fact having very little was part of the plan. He told them to be innocent as doves but shrewd as vipers (Matthew 10:16).
Without a plan, there are two likely outcomes: either you get distracted by life and don’t do anything or you try out ideas as they come to you. Even if some of the ideas succeed, without directly tying into a plan you can quickly get off track and despair of ever reaching your goal.
You may be a natural schemer and organizer. A team can really benefit from your input, and a great tool for the tactical-minded is the Strategic Planning Process.
Don’t be scared if that’s not you, though. A plan doesn’t have to be as elaborate as that sounds. A good plan simply asks, “What do we want to see happen, and how are we going to get there?”
The key is intentionality. When you look at something truly amazing (whether a manicured garden or our very own DNA), you have to recognize that “this didn’t just happen.”
If planning doesn’t come naturally to you, the best person to help you figure out a plan is a coach [5T05-Coach], someone who has been there before you or who at least has a more objective perspective.
Planning is one thing, but actually carrying it out can be difficult as well, especially as the busyness of life sets in. A book from Franklin Covey explains how you can stay on target with what’s most important:
Once you’ve got a plan, the next step is to figure out what you’ll need (skills, training and resources) to achieve the goals you’ve set.
© GCMN - A ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International. All Right Reserved.
