Avoiding Two Extremes

I took a seminary class last year called Apologetics. One of the assigned books to read was a book called Constructing a Life Philosophy: Opposing Viewpoints. It is an interesting read because it contains short essays from a variety of life philosophies- Atheism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Secular Humanism, Liberal Christianity, Conservative Christianity, etc...

One of the essays that I found most interesting was called Challenging the Idea of a Life Plan by Charles Larmore. Larmore argues that the good life cannot be achieved by following a life plan. He points out that the human experience reveals that happiness is often the result of unanticipated events.

This went against the grain of everything I thought to be true. I am a financial planner by trade and I like to fool myself into believing that I can take the uncertainty out of life by managing risk or behavior appropriately. I am a huge goal-setter and often get annoyed by events that sidetrack me from achieving goals.

But the reality is that as I reflect upon my life, I have to admit that Larmore is correct. Planning is good. There is great satisfaction in dreaming big dreams and watching those dreams come true in some form. I believe that what you measure tends to improve over time.

But planning can become an idol. We can easily put our hopes in Monte Carlo simulations (a tool financial planners use to predict investment outcomes based on historical scenarios) or some crazy notion that we have control over what happens to us.

Proverbs 16:9 instructs, "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." There are two extremes to be avoided in this area:

1. We should not be passive about life. A fatalistic view that life just happens is irresponsible. God has entrusted us with talent, financial resources, time and health. Hiding these resources in a hole of fatalistic apathy will likely meet with the same result as the slothful servant who hid his talent in the ground- Matthew 25:25-30.

2. We should not be planning zealots. We can easily get puffed up with false pride when things go our way. We can have fake pity on the poor saps who just keep having waves of adversity- probably because they don't set goals. God's path for each of us is mysterious. There will be unexpected trials and blessings along the way that seem to come out of nowhere.

The whole book of Ecclesiastes covers this topic. One of my favorite verses in that book is Ecclesiastes 7:14, "In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find anything that will be after him."

My word to myself: Set lots of goals; strive for holiness; seek discipline. But be joyful always; give thanks in all circumstances. Embrace structure in some form. But have a good glass of wine along the way. Life will always be a balance between what we plan and the unexpected good and bad that comes our way. The unexpected is often our greatest source of happiness, change and growth.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge