Purpose and Plan (Part 1)

If you are to be successful in ministry, then your purpose and plans must be in harmony with those of God. When you know your specific purpose for ministry and make plans to fulfill that purpose, then you can lead others.  Good leaders must know where they are going in order to guide followers.  Guidance and unity of ministry involves common purpose and direction.

When there is proper direction, confusion is eliminated:

1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not a  God  of  confusion  but of peace."

Ephesians 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children."

God had a purpose and plan from the beginning of time for you.  If God's activities are not characterized by confusion, then the ministries of His servants should not be either.

Decisions determine your destiny. This is true even of salvation.  You must make a decision to either accept or reject the Gospel.  Your eternal destiny is determined by your own decision.

Your present life and ministry is determined by previous decisions you have made.  You either make decisions by thoughtful planning or on the spur of the moment.  Planning and management with the guidance of the Lord permit you to make good decisions.


Knowing God's purpose and plan helps you establish proper priorities for your life and ministry.  Priorities are activities which are more important than other things you could choose to  do.

You have priorities in life whether you consciously determine them or not. You will establish priorities either by drifting into habits that become a way of life, through pressure of circumstances or others around you, or by a definite decision based on God's purposes. 

Luke 12:16-20 tells the story of a man with misplaced priorities. This story illustrates that misplaced priorities are always followed by a penalty. 

Many people are more occupied with reacting to urgent matters of the present instead of planning for the future.  This causes them to react rather than act with wisdom and purpose.

Without a plan, you do not know what you are doing, why you are doing it, or how it is to be done.  Because you have no purpose and plan, you have nothing to commit to, no way to evaluate your effectiveness for God, and you are easily persuaded to react by quitting in times of crisis.  Planning transforms desire to demonstration and visions to reality. It helps you determine what needs to be done and how to do it in order to fulfill God's purposes.

When you have a plan, people know their responsibilities. This makes them accountable to God, others, and themselves.  To be accountable to someone means you have to answer to them for something they have given you to do.

In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 the servants were accountable for talents their  master gave them. Their master had a plan, communicated it to his servants, and they were to fulfill it by investing the funds as they had been directed.

You are accountable not only for knowing God's will for your life and ministry, but also for doing it:

Luke 12:47 "And that servant, which knew His Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes."

Planning permits evaluation to see if you are fulfilling God's purpose and plans.  If you have no plan, how do you know if you are succeeding or failing?  If you have no purpose, how will you know if you ever achieve it?
 
Planning helps you manage spiritual resources properly and make wise use of funds, material possessions, people, spiritual gifts and callings for the work of God's Kingdom.

God opens doors to His people:

Revelation 3:8 "...I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it..."

When God opens doors, you need to be ready to walk though them.  This is not possible without advance preparation. Read the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.  God opens doors, but they do not stay open forever. They open and wait for your entry.  Then they close, sometimes never to open again.

The first question of the Apostle Paul after his conversion was, "What will you have me to do?" He was asking God, "What is your plan for my life and ministry?"   When you bring your will in harmony with God's plans, you are on the road to being successful according to Mark 14:36 and Luke 5:11.