Proverbs 4:6-11: The Value and Danger of Preparation

"Go to the ant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,

she prepares her bread in summer

and gathers her food in harvest."

Proverbs 4:6-11

There's two and only two types of people in the world: those who plan and those who don't. The "planners" in this world are the ones who seem to have everything figured out. Their Google Calendar is fully filled out and color-coded, and if you ask them to hang out next next Friday, they tell you that they already made plans and that you should have asked sooner. The "non-planners" are those who just "wing it." When told they need to schedule out their lives, they laugh as if such a thing were a foreign concept. When you ask them what they're doing tomorrow, their response is, "I don't know, I'll find out tomorrow!" Furthermore, let us note that planners and non-planners DO NOT get along. The planner always finds the non-planner underorganized and irresponsible. The non-planner always finds the planner boring and unspontaneous. Nevertheless, the Bible has convicting wisdom for both parties, which we will look at today.

First, let's start with God's wisdom for the non-planners, found here in Proverbs 6. In the middle of this chapter, we find some practical advice reflecting on the life of an ant. I've always been fascinated with ants. They crawl up and down your driveway, making numerous (and perhaps annoying) sand huts that are easy to step on. In fact, if you do accidentally step on one or drive one of them over with your car, an interesting thing happens: the ant just builds another one. Why? Because the ant, you see, is driven and organized. "Without having any chief," scripture tells us, the ant "prepares her bread in summer." There is no one standing over the ant, telling it what to do and how to do it. Rather, the ant simply prepares for what's ahead, knowing that his laziness and unorganization would simply lead him to downfall. If the aunt were to "let loose" or "wing it" by spending time with "a little sleep" or slumber, poverty would come upon him like a robber. Likewise, so will happen to us if we do not work hard and prepare for our next days.

Now, before we planners start shoving Proverbs 6 in the faces of our fellow non-planners, let us realize that scripture also speaks of the danger of preparation as well. Read these verses from James:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” -- James 4:13-15

Truth be told, this is the non-planners favorite verse in scripture. They have this verse written on their hearts and bound to their foreheads. They don't need to be told to simply "let loose" and "trust God" with their plans, they just do it naturally. When told to rely on "the Lord's will" for tomorrow, they respond, "Well of course! What else would I do? I wouldn't even know!" Yet, let us realize that this verse is greatly convicting for the planners, as this verse points out the danger of planning. Although there is great value in working hard and preparing for the next days, there is also great danger in basing our lives upon the false foundation of our own plans. This verse in James shows us that the plans that we make for ourselves are often for our own glory rather than God's glory, and thus are sinful. Rather, we planners ought to realize that if the Lord does not will what we have planned in our schedule, to strive for it would be for dishonest gain. Rather, we planners must hold our plans, schedules, and desires loosely, letting God shape them into whatever he wills.

We have all heard the saying, "We make plans, and God laughs." Although there is much truth in this statement, and I've often quoted it, I believe another statement is true as well: "We make plans, and God smiles at the hard-working heart." In other words, there are two sides to the coin of having holy plans before the Lord. On the one hand, we must work hard and prepare for the next days of our lives, for to not do so would be to neglect the stewardship of our lives that God has called us to. Yet on the other side of the coin, we must not place full confidence in our plans, as if they were our Savior. The non-planners reading this devotional will have a difficult time with the first side of the coin, the planners with the second. In summary, all of us need to be humbled when it comes to our plans and preparations (or the lack of them). We must work hard and prepare, like the wise ant, yet we must also submit ourselves to the sovereign will of God in every condition.

A Life Note for the Planners: A word of wisdom for the planners who are extremely frustrated with their non-planning friends: I'm with you. Isn't it frustrating when you try to make plans with them and they're response is, "maybe"? Don't worry, my friend, you're not crazy; I'm with you. But let us realize that God has created us all differently, that we might complement each other. Oftentimes the non-planners, as discussed above, do a lot better of a job trusting in the sovereign hand of God over the next days of their lives. Perhaps you might do well in attempting to follow their example in this.

A Life Note for the Non-planners: Please, I beseech you, realize the great pain and turmoil you bring to your planning friends when you answer them with "maybe" after they ask you to hangout. Know that this kills them from the inside out, and give them grace when they get angry with you. Once again, realize that God has made us to complement each other that we might grow in Christ together. Rather than getting frustrated with them, learn from them. Who knows? Maybe a color-coded Google Calendar would do you some good.