Planning for Success

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed" (Proverbs 15:22).

On Wednesdays I play ping pong with several men, mostly retired, older gentleman. Occasionally we'll draw in a school teacher home for the summer or a pastor who needs a break from the days grind. We take turns attempting to out hit our opponents. Mostly we talk about our lives, share what we are learning in Scripture and in our walk with Christ. Last week I was shocked to learn that John (not his real name), who is in his eighties, is thinking of getting married. His wife died a couple years ago and he met a Christian lady on Match.com.

John exemplifies one who is continually learning and continually asking advice. He is a wise man, knowledgeable in the Scripture. You would think he would have no need to get advise from others. Yet, this is what I constantly find him doing. Today he shared that last Sunday evening, at the church picnic, he asked about eighty people to complete a survey. He asked one question on his survey, "How do you know when you are in love?" He got many answers. Many didn't know. Some said, "You will just know". Many gave him subjective, hard to grab onto type responses, like "It will just feel right".

It's a great question, worth asking and thinking about. John wants to get married and wants to be sure he is making a wise decision. If he does choose to get married, I'm confident his marriage will have a good chance of success. Wisdom works that way.

Most of us seem to think we don't need the advice of others. We think we have all the answers, all the experience, all the knowledge we need. We think our judgment is superior to others. After all, we think, "It is our life. We know what's best for ourselves". Sure this is usually not a deliberate, conscious thought, but our actions reveal what's truly in our hearts.

I know I've got some important decisions to make. Ones that could alter the course of the rest of my life. You bet I'm going to make some phone calls, get together for lunch, invite people over and most importantly, talk to God and listen for His advice in Scripture.