The Problem with Planning

"The road may be foggy, but trust there is a road."  
​                                                                                                                 - Farmer Bob

​I've been on numerous boards and committees that have engaged in the strategic planning process.  I have enjoyed the analysis and assessment, collaboration and discussion.  Personally and professionally, planning is a good thing.  

But I have found one problem:  

The best things in my life have been unplanned.

The woman I married.
The city I reside in.
The job I have.
The house I live in.

God has destroyed my plans and humbled me.
God has altered my plans and matured me.
God has superseded my plans and shocked me.  

Make plans, but never hold them too tightly.  It's too easy to trust the plan and not the Provider.  Don't squeeze God out with a rigid strategy. 

Here's a verse I'm stuck on.  "Abram went as the LORD had told him . . . " (Gen. 12:4)  Abe didn't negotiate, strategize, or ask any questions.  He just started walking.  He journeyed without knowing where he was going.

There is a time to plan.  And then there's a time, like Abe, to just go.  You just listen to the Voice when you can't see the way.  Paul says it like this, "We walk by faith and not by sight" (II Cor. 5:7).

God purposely leads us into the unknown that we might know him.  In the mist and mystery, we learn to grip his hand exclusively.  

What's the greatest unplanned blessing you've received?

What fog are you going through right now?