Planning ahead

Proverbs 16:9. “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

2013 is almost over and already we are busy planning for 2014. The staffing is sorted out, the timetable is written and the calendar is slowly filling with all the various dates for camps, excursions, functions and the like.

People love to plan ahead. It’s virtually built into our genetics to try and control our destiny. We like to plan our holidays, plan our work, have a strategic business plan, a five year personal plan and a retirement plan. These days you can even buy a funeral plan!

Sometimes I think we spend too much time planning and not enough time preparing for the future. As educators, it’s our job to help prepare young people for the future. Planning makes little difference because so often life will take us along a totally different path than we expected. The older I get, the more I realise how little control I have over where life takes me but if I’m prepared for the future whatever eventuates will be fine.

Jesus told an interesting parable about a rich farmer who tried to plan his future. He managed to store up a huge fortune so he could sit back and take life easy. What he hadn’t prepared for though was his eternal destiny. That night he died and all his money he had saved was meaningless. Check out the story in Luke 12:16-21.

The beauty of having faith in God and a relationship with Him is that our futures are safe in his hands and we can rest in the knowledge that He will direct our paths. We just need to be prepared for the journey he is going to take us on.

I love the following quote:

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” ― Bil Keane

In the Christmas story, wise men from the east saw the sign that an amazing act of God was about to happen; the Son of God was about to come to earth as saviour. They followed the pathway that God laid out for them and it led them directly to Christ. There was no way they could have predicted where the journey would lead but they knew the destination.

This Christmas, look for the signs that God will show you. They will lead you to the same destination – our risen saviour, Jesus Christ. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year with your family and I look forward to welcoming our classes back in 2014.

David Heyworth, Head of Senior School