I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
Many of us have had experiences that confirm the truth of this verse. All our carefully laid plans have fallen apart; all our dreams that we had what it took to succeed in some particular area of life crumbled, and we could not understand why. We had to learn, as this text says, the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong. That is true, even in sports. In the early part of this century Jim Thorpe, the famous Native American athlete, won many gold medals at the Olympic games. He stood before the King of Sweden and was publicly acknowledged as the greatest athlete of his time. Yet all those medals and honors had to be given back when it was learned that as a boy he had played professional baseball for five dollars a season, which rendered him no longer an amateur.
It is not always the strong, the mighty, the able, and the gifted that win in politics. We have seen candidates whom everybody thought a cinch to win public office defeated, unable to fulfill their dreams. The battle [is not always] to the strong, and this principle rings true even for the awards and prizes of the world. The Nobel Prize was given to a little woman in India, Mother Teresa, who ministered fully to the needs of the poor around her. Even in Hollywood the battle is not always won by those with the strength of typical movie glitz and glamour; in 1982, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to the movie Chariots of Fire, the story of Eric Liddell, a Christian Olympic runner who later became a missionary to China. The Searcher clearly tells us that natural gifts of speed, strength, and intellect are never enough to guarantee ultimate triumph.
Other factors really make the difference. Time and chance happen to them all. What does he mean by that? We often say, You have to be the right person, at the right place, at the right time. In other words, there are elements of circumstance that have to fall together even before someone with great abilities can accomplish his or her goals. What the Searcher is saying, of course, is that life is not in our control. The illusion that the secular media presses upon us all the time is that we can handle our life by our choices.It's your life! You can live it the way you please. But the Searcher says it cannot be done that way. Time and chance happen to them all. Just when you think you have something under control, it can all fall apart. Disasters come when we least expect them: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare (Ecclesiastes 9:12). Everything can fall apart. Every one of us has had some experience of that.
Lord, thank You for this reminder that I am not in control; that I do not control the outcome of events, but You do.
Life Application: The sovereignty of God is an important attribute of God to realize and trust. Our own efforts will never trump God's sovereignty. Have we rested in that knowledge? Related Message: This daily devotion was inspired by one of Ray's messages. Please read "The Only Way to Go" or listen to Ray for more on this portion of scripture.
It’s time for your annual career check-up! What changes do you want to make in your work life in 2013? Do you want a new job or a promotion?
Do you want to keep doing the same things work-wise but with a new
employer? Do you want to change career directions altogether? Are you
happy where you are but want to boost your performance?
Regardless of your career situation, the New Year offers you a fresh
slate. If you’re a goal-driven person, then you probably set performance
targets for yourself at work and in your personal life. Now that the
New Year is here, it’s time to set your career goals for 2013.
Remember to keep your goals SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-driven):
Relationships
Armed with a list of the most critical relationships in your work
life, set a goal for each. What’s the one action you can take that will
sustain or improve each relationship?
Goals
Are you carrying forward any 2012 goals into 2013? If so, make a note
of them. In addition, jot down the primary goals you would like to
achieve in your work life this year. Are you aiming to land a new job or a promotion by a certain date? Or are you planning to clarify your career next steps or explore a new industry?
Career Trajectory
What title, employer type, and industry would you like to be in by
the end of 2013? Aim high and dream big, and then work backward to
detail the path you will need to take to achieve this trajectory.
Personal Brand
Which elements of your career brand would you like to capitalize on
more this year? How will you do this? What types of projects,
assignments, and roles will enable you to extend your brand at work?
Career Values
What are the top three career values you would like to honor most throughout this next year?
Career Passions
What are the top three career passions you would like most to express throughout 2013?
Career Gifts
What are the top two career gifts you would like to use the most this year?
Industry Trends
Which industry trends are most likely to impact your career in 2013?
What specific actions can you take in the next 12 months to make those
impacts as positive as possible? What can you do to mitigate any
potential negative impacts?
Personal And Professional Development
What new personal or work-related skills do you plan to develop this
year? What formal or informal training will you complete? Remember that
once you officially enroll in a class or program, you can add it to your
resume and LinkedIn profile – just make sure you clarify that you are
enrolled and have not yet completed it. Once you’ve completed the class
or program, you can note this completion on your resume or LinkedIn
profile as well.
Achievements
What achievement opportunities exist for you in your current role
this year? Are there planning projects or initiatives that you think
will enable you to solve a problem, improve sales, innovate, or help the
company to achieve shared goals?
If you find yourself stymied by the process of designing your life,
you may need an injection of creativity. If so, try one or more of the 30 creativity-boosting techniques noted in this recent blog post.
Once your plan is crafted, put legs under it by tying your goals and
plans to specific dates in your planner. Break larger annual goals into
small weekly chunks and make sure you access support for each goal you
set:
Who can assist you in achieving each goal?
What information or resources do you need to pursue these goals?
What new skills or success habits must you put in place to realize these goals?
What changes or adaptations will you have to make, and how will you go about executing those?
What barriers to accomplishing these goals are in your way or could arise? How will you overcome these barriers?
Put your career plan in a form that feels right to you, whether
that’s a collage or a left-brained report. Store it where you will see
it often (preferably daily) and schedule monthly reviews of your plan.
Each month when you reread it, make a note of your progress, successes,
and problems.
Get help when you need it – don’t wait until the year is nearly over
to admit that you need support to achieve a goal. Most of all, though,
have fun with your goals. Resolutions are supposed to bring us joy! Photo Credit: Shutterstock
About Cheryl Simpson
Cheryl is a 5-time, award-winning resume writer and LinkedIn strategist. She offers complimentary resume reviews through Executive Resume Rescue.
Piper's plea to plan is summarized as follows: So my plea to you is that you set aside time each week to plan, especially to plan your life of prayer and Bible study. For example, since Sunday is the first day of the week (not the last day of the weekend!) and belongs to the Lord, take ten or fifteen minutes each Sunday and think through when you will pray and what you will study that week. Give some thought how God might want to use you that week in a special way. Plan the letters you need to write, the Bible verses you want to teach your children, the visit you want to make, the book you want to read, the neighbor you want to talk to, etc.
The Proverbs teach us to plan. The greatest missionary who ever lived was a planner. God is a God who does all things according to plan. And Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem because of the most loving plan ever devised.
He planned for our joy; we ought to plan for his glory.
Suppose the thought enters your mind that you want to build a house. You sit down and make a list of all the materials you think you will need. Then you order them to be delivered to the lot where you will build. Everything is piled in the center of the lot, and the next day the bulldozer comes to excavate the basement and everything is in the way. It's all just where he has to dig.
Why?
A failure to plan.
Without some rudimentary planning you probably won't have anything to eat when you get up in the morning. And without some detailed planning no one can build a house, let alone a skyscraper or shopping mall or city. If producing shelter and food and clothing and transportation is valuable, then planning is valuable. Nothing but the simplest impulses gets accomplished without some forethought which we call a plan.
Planning for Spiritual Necessities
All of us know this and practice it in relation to the basic physical necessities of life. We take steps to see that we have enough to eat and clothes to keep us warm. But do we take our spiritual needs that seriously? Do we apply the same earnestness in planning to maximize our ministry as we do in planning to make a living?
What I would like to do here is to try to persuade you to set aside time each week in the coming year to plan—and specifically to plan your life of prayer and devotion and ministry. The bulldozer of God's Spirit often arrives at the scene of our heart ready to begin some great work of building, and he finds that due to poor planning there are piles of disordered things in his way. We're not ready for him.
The way I hope to motivate you to do this is to give four examples of planning in the Bible. First, some illustrations from the Proverbs; second, the planning of the apostle Paul; third, the planning of God; and fourth, the planning of Jesus.
Illustrations from Proverbs
Proverbs 6:6–7, "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her food in summer, and gathers her sustenance in harvest."
The ant is an example not only because it works so hard, but also because it plans ahead. It takes thought in summer that there will be need in winter, and this forethought provides its needs in winter.
Proverbs 14:15, "The simple believes everything, but the prudent looks where he is going."
The difference between planning and not planning is whether you look where you are going in the future or whether you focus all your attention on the immediate right in front of you. If you are not a planner, then you will be at the mercy of others who try to give you counsel about how to act now so as to be happy in the future.
So "the simple believes everything, but the prudent looks where he is going." He considers the days to come and what they are bringing and thinks about how best to prepare for them and use them to accomplish his purposes.
Proverbs 15:22, "Without counsel plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed."
Here the wisdom of planning is taken for granted, and the writer simply gives us advice for how to make plans that succeed. He says, Don't be so independent that you think yourself above counsel. Read the wisdom of others who have gone before you. Talk to experienced and wise people. Watch the way others do things and learn from their mistakes and successes.
Proverbs 16:3, "Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established."
Again planning is taken for granted and the issue is: How can you plan in such a way that what you produce will have abiding value and not just pass away overnight? Answer: Commit it to the Lord. That is, always seek the Lord's guidance and strength in your planning. Trust his wisdom and not your own. Then your plans will bear fruit that stays.
Proverbs 24:27, "Prepare your work outside, get everything ready for you in the field; and after that build your house."
This probably means that it is important to be able to support yourself by the productivity of the field before you establish your own household. Perhaps we would say to a young person today: get a job before you get married. Or at least plan how you are going to support the new household you are establishing.
Proverbs 31:15–16, "She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and tasks for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard."
Here the model homemaker is a model planner in two ways. She gets up early and assigns tasks to her maids. You cannot assign tasks to your maids if you have no plan about what you would like to be accomplished that day. And she considers a field and buys it. What does she consider? She considers how it will fit into the plan of the household.
Conclusion from the Proverbs: Careful planning is part of what makes a person wise and productive. Not to plan is considered foolish and dangerous. This is true even though the Proverbs teach that we do not know what the future may bring. "A man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). The fact that the Lord is ultimately in control of the future does not mean we shouldn't plan. It means we should commit our work to the Lord and trust him to establish our plans according to his loving purposes.
The Planning of the Apostle Paul
We will take just one example of Paul's planning from the many that we could take from Acts and from his letters. Romans 15:20–28,
I make it my ambition (i.e., my plan) to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man's foundation . . . But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be sped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints . . . When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been raised, I shall go on by way of you to Spain.
Here is a typical example of how the apostle Paul carried out his mission. And I think we should learn from him that planning is essential to a productive ministry. And I mean your personal ministry as well as the more complex organism of church ministries. Paul was the greatest church planter who ever lived. He accomplished more in his life for the spread of the reign of Christ than any other person. So I think we would do well to take seriously his method. Part of his method was his planning.
He had a general guideline: he wanted to preach where no one had preached before. Then he developed a specific plan from this guideline: he would take the gift to Jerusalem; then he would go to Rome to establish a western base, from which he would then go to Spain.
What makes this especially significant is that as far as we know the plan fell through. He was arrested in Jerusalem. He went to Rome as a prisoner and probably never got to Spain. It's just like we saw in the Proverbs. God is the one who finally makes the future. But we plan nevertheless. God uses our planning even if he aborts it.
For example, if Paul had not planned to use Rome as a base of operations for a trip to Spain, he probably never would have written the greatest letter the world has ever known—the epistle to the Romans. Planning is crucial in Christian living and Christian ministry—even when God overrules our planning.
The Planning of God
The ultimate reason for planning is that God is a God who plans and we are created in his image to exercise dominion in the earth under his lordship.
I don't think it is even possible to conceive a God who does not act according to his own eternal planning—that is, a God who has knee jerk responses to stimuli rather than deliberate actions that fit into a wise purpose.
Isaiah 46:9–10, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.'"
Ephesians 1:9–10, "God has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and on earth."
Acts 2:23, "This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God."
Since God is a God who does all things according to plan it befits us to approach the most important things of life with forethought and plan, not haphazardly.
The Planning of Jesus
Jesus had a mission to accomplish, and he finished it with forethought and planning.
When his mother urged him to do a miracle at the wedding in Cana, he said, "My hour is not yet come" (John 2:4). There was a planned and appointed hour for the revelation of his power. He would stay with the plan. Luke 9:51 says, "When the days grew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem." He knew that the plan meant death in Jerusalem and he didn't shrink back from the plan.
But he wasn't driven against his will. The Father's plan was his plan. He said in John 10:18, "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father."
Conclusion:
Very specifically my plea to you this new year is that you take time to plan the most important things in your life.
Plan for the Most Important Things in Your Life
Plan how you are going to spend time with your spouse to deepen and strengthen the relationship. Plan how you are going to spend time playing with and teaching the children. Plan how you are going to get the amount of exercise you need to stay healthy. Plan how you are going to get enough sleep. Plan how much you should eat and how you are going to limit yourself. Plan your vacation so that it really gives rest and spiritual renewal.
And most important, plan how prayer and meditation on the Word are going to be significant parts of your life. Without a plan these most important things always get pushed aside by urgent pressures.
Make Planning a Regular Part of Your Life
But it won't work just to plan something tonight or tomorrow. Planning must be a regular part of your life. I expect that the pastoral staff at Bethlehem will take a full day each month away from the church office just to pray and plan their ministry. This is in addition to the time I expect we are all taking each week to plan our week's work.
So my plea to you is that you set aside time each week to plan, especially to plan your life of prayer and Bible study. For example, since Sunday is the first day of the week (not the last day of the weekend!) and belongs to the Lord, take ten or fifteen minutes each Sunday and think through when you will pray and what you will study that week. Give some thought how God might want to use you that week in a special way. Plan the letters you need to write, the Bible verses you want to teach your children, the visit you want to make, the book you want to read, the neighbor you want to talk to, etc.
The Proverbs teach us to plan. The greatest missionary who ever lived was a planner. God is a God who does all things according to plan. And Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem because of the most loving plan ever devised.
He planned for our joy; we ought to plan for his glory.
