Planning ahead
Yogi Berra once said,
If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up someplace else.
There is truth in the statement. It’s been my instinct, and the philosophy of others that I’ve read that this as a negative thing to not end up somewhere specific. But is it? I would argue that it depends.
On the one hand, to fail to plan is to plan to fail. Unless you set out to accomplish something, you never will. The first step is to take a step. A journey begins with a single step. And so on.
The problem with that is that requires that WE must know where we are going. How many of us truly know where we’d like to be in 10 years? We can guess, but can we know that a given outcome would be the best for us? For our friends? For our kids/spouse/parents/family/pets? How much do we really know? Little at best.
I would also venture to say that for us to always pursue this avenue of life is unbiblical. Let us consider Abraham. What was the edict God gave him? Gen 12:1 quotes it as:
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. [Gen 12:1, NIV]
This sounds like a prime example of Yogi’s quote; Abram clearly had no idea where he was going, and he ended up there just fine.
Another example worth considering is Peter. (Matthew 4:18-19) Peter was a fairly successful fisherman. We deduce this from several factors, including the fact that he had multiple boats, and employees. But when Jesus called him, he was not given a target for the future, other than to follow Jesus. And what did he do? Left everything and split. So not only did Peter HAVE a goal in mind, but he was successfully following it. And then he dropped it all for a UNKNOWN goal.
So what are we to do? I believe the active ingredient in both Berra’s quote, and a Biblical life philosophy is to be moving. To go. Berra’s quote, amusingly inspiring as it is, implied motion. Abram was told to ‘Go’. Peter was called to ‘come’. So there is activity; it’s just not as directed as we might like it to be.
Taking a step further, I believe we have somewhere to go; we have a path laid out, even if it lacks a specific target. We are to follow Christ. Again, looking at Abram, he was called to ‘go to the land I [the LORD] will show you’. He was to follow the LORD. Peter was called to ‘come, follow me’ by Jesus. The key is, again, to follow. The Bible is full of verses referencing waiting on the Lord, and following after him. Many references are made to ‘directing my steps’. Note that it is steps and not direction. God seems to often be fond of the one step at a time method of leading. So be it. This gives us a path to follow.
However, following Jesus is no ordinary task. You have to be able to see, hear, and understand him and his words, which practically can be difficult. But that is a discussion for another day. Today, the point is that to not have a target is not necessarily a bad thing. I personally would rather have God know what end point I have and let him show me how to get there. It’s a tad more exciting.
Besides, as Gertrude Stein said, “When you get there, there is no there, there,” so why are we in such a hurry to get there?