I’m really good at spontaneous! I tend to do things without much planning, and I’ve prided myself on being flexible and nimble. I like to keep the ability to easily adapt and navigate changing environments and unexpected events. At the same time, my bent toward spontaneity can be stressful and set me up such that I don’t reach goals or maximize potential. So I’m thinking that maybe if I lean into planning a little bit more, I could have less stress in my life and greater productivity—along with achieving important goals!
What has me thinking about this comes from my Bible reading this week in Luke 1 and 2. These are the chapters where the births of John the Baptist and Jesus are prophesied—two supernatural pregnancies are described, and Jesus is born. Indeed, we often read the Christmas story from Luke 2, which talks about Jesus being born in Bethlehem, shepherds in the field keeping watch at night and other cool stuff.
But let’s be clear that Jesus’ birth was probably the most planned event in all of human history. This goes way back to the garden of Eden in Genesis 3:15 with God’s prophecy about Jesus bruising the head of Satan. Scattered throughout the Old Testament are more prophecies and details about Jesus coming in human form and even His birth in Bethlehem.
Furthermore, John the Baptist, who was Jesus’ forerunner, played a massive role in telling Israel about Jesus’ coming and preparing the way for Him. Before John’s public ministry, we can read about his aged parents and his supernatural birth in in Luke 1. To briefly summarize this chapter, John’s parents were incapable of having kids; nevertheless, his mom became pregnant well beyond her child-bearing years. His dad didn’t believe the announcement from the angel Gabriel about having a son, and because of his unbelief, he was mute for about nine months. When John was born, his dad was able to speak again and gave a beautiful prophecy that included who John would be as God’s chosen forerunner for Jesus.
Planning, planning, planning! In preparing for Jesus’ entrance into the human race, I see God doing project management on a grandiose scale. No human could possibly bring together or execute such complicated, expansive and detailed schemes. Neither the best engineer in the world nor the most advanced AI engagement could have pulled off all of the things that culminated in Jesus’ birth. As I reflect on this, it gives me great pause and causes me to reconsider my instinctive spontaneity and resistance to planning.
At the same time, I find tremendous comfort and confidence that God is participating throughout human history and working in our world today. I’m challenged to lean into Him more fully and trust our triune God who is all-knowing, always present, all-powerful and exceedingly compassionate. We would be wise to not only trust in God’s expansive and over-arching planning, but also to invite the Trinity into our plans. While it’s good to keep some flexibility in our lives for God’s participation, it’s also helpful to make plans and preparations so we can achieve goals and maximize the designs that God has placed in each of us!
