One of the valuable lessons I’ve learned in life is: “Always be well prepared, but also be very flexible and teachable. Things don’t always go as planned.” In order to do anything with excellence or achieve success, you must be well prepared. Sometimes that preparation actually comes as the result of life lessons learned from not preparing well in the past. We tend to learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. Have you ever noticed how dynamic and unpredictable life situations can be from one day to the next? There have been many occasions in which I’ve approached a problem like it was tic-tac-toe only to discover it to be more like Rubik’s Cube!   Some projects can look simple until we start working them. It’s only then that we discover a hidden dimension of complexity. We find ourselves having to take a step back to adjust both our plans and our expectations. Here is a helpful wisdom passage to take to heart:

Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail. (Proverbs 19:20-21 NLT)

Who are your wise counselors? Can you name them? We need to plan well but learn to hold our best plans loosely enough in order to always be ready to yield and adjust to God’s better plan. Be sure to plan like it all depends on you but execute your plan realizing it all depends on God. He will work in your plans, through your plans and in spite of your plans, to accomplish His purpose. We only truly accomplish the best when our plans line up with His plans and purpose for our lives.