Live updates on Covid-19 reveals that over 1.8 million people have already died of COVID-19 since January 2020 to this present day, 31st December 2021.

There is no doubt that a greater percentage of these people sat down in December 2019  and pondered on some goals, resolutions and plans for 2020.

Sadly, dead took them off their game plan.

When it comes to setting goals and making resolutions for a new beginning, what matters is not how well you craft it. The question to ask is this!

 Have I aligned my plans and resolutions with God’s plan for my life?

I guess 2020 proved to the entire world that self-sufficiency and planning without God is futile.

No one would have predicted that more than  1.8M million people will die of COVID-19 before the end of December 2021, talk less of those who lost their job and had their plans overturned.

Wise King Solomon noted in Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

So, how do you align your plans with God’s plan for your life?

What is your attitude in planning?

How do you set divine goals?

What is your ultimate goal?

Let’s Roll right in!

God already has a plan for you.

Jeremiah 29:11says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

When it comes to planning, it is better to be in God’s boat as it leads to the right direction. What this means is that whatever you plan, let it be something that gives glory to God and should be in accordance to God’s word and precepts: be it work plans, personal development plans or relationships.

Ask yourself: Why do you want to buy another jeep this year when I have another Lexus jeep packed in the garage?

If your intention is use that Jeep for God’s glory, then you are aligning your plans with God’s plan for your life. But if your intention is to pride yourself over others, then God is not in that plan. It’s as simple as that.

So before you write down anything, ask yourself, how is God glorified in this goal I wish to realize?

If you do not have a straight answer to this question, then, write it off . It is futile.

You need to seek first Gods’ Kingdom and His righteousness, and every other thing will be added unto you (Mathew 6:33).

This is the hardest part for busy believers: distractions from family and work challenges. The world throws us with all kinds of distractions to derail our focus from God.

As you write your goals this year, include prayer time, bible study time, meditation and evangelism time. Make it a priority else you will sleep over it.

Not everything you plan this year 2021 shall come to pass no matter how smart your goals are.

You need to give room for flexibility and let God order your steps.

A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9.

A friend of ours shared a testimony that he had planned to buy a motor bike to help him shuttle to work in 2020. But because of Covid-19, his salary was slashed to a bare minimum and he couldn’t save enough money for that project.

However, at the start of this academic year 2020/2021, he was offered a house right in the school campus.

Do you think he’d be disappointed for not getting a bike in 2020?

Certainly not!

God redirected his plans for his own good. This is what it means to align your plans with the plans of God for your life. You get no regrets folks!

As you write your goals for 2021, be prepared for the worst while trusting God for the best. It’s all about God,  and His will.

At the beginning of each year, I always write everything I am going to do, to have and to be. Many times, God has proved me beyond my expectations.

I remember a year when I set a goal I was going to have a certain amount of money in my bank account. As the year drew nearer to the end, I was in debt. In another instance, God blessed me beyond what I had planned for that year.

Does it mean I didn’t plan with God? Certainly not!

Rather, the message from God is clear: You cannot go after your plans on my own.

When it comes to achieving divine goals you’ve set in accordance with God’s plan for your life, what matters is what you become in the process and not the goal itself.

Divine goals are not meant solely for acquisition. They are meant for orderliness, growth, direction and projections. 

The  ultimate goal for every believer is to reach heaven. Every other earthly goal shouldn’t perplex you if you do not achieve them.

Philippians 3:12-15

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

You need to have the spirit of God to write a divinely orchestrated plan.

If you want to be successful with any New Year’s resolution, you must rely on the spirit of God.

Zechariah 4:6 says,

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Making changes in your habits is not an easy task. Do you rely on willpower to make those resolutions. That’s why you keep breaking them all the time. You need God’s help to make changes you can’t make on your own. It’s not based on willpower. It’s based on God’s power.

Conclusion

Being self-sufficient is a terrible sin in the sight of God.  

Why? 

Because self-sufficiency is planning without God!

Without God, your plans are useless. Anything can happen to it.

 The only way you can experience the power of the spirit is to confess Jesus as your Lord and savior.

In order words, your first planning should be your salvation testimony. If you do not have one, drop your pen right now and follow Jesus. Otherwise, you will be planning on your own.

See this in James 4:13-17

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is a sin for them.

You are free to plan as much as you want this year, 2021, but recognizing that God is the one who sustains your plans makes you a successful planner.

Planning without God is futile.

So tell me, how are you approaching your plans for 2021?

Go back and rewrite your plans for 2021.

Enter 2021 with thanksgiving in your heart (Psalms 100:4)

There are things that a thankful heart to God will do to a believer as they step into a new year.

Wish you success and abundant blessings in 2021.

Cheers,

Author: Jini, is a prolific author and founder of Teachersletters Publishing Services. As an award winning teacher with a Cambridge International School in Doaula, he has 13+ years of teaching experience in writing, student-centered learning, bible teachers training and educational leadership. He is consider as one of the best keynote speakers of his time.