Ever feel like you’re hurtling through life by the seat of your pants – like you’re riding a roller coaster that never arrives at the station so you can get off? I’ve been there. At best it can be a personality issue – as in you like to go 90 mph with your hair on fire because it makes you feel alive. At worst it can be a significant flaw in your character – as in you don’t plan ahead or you can’t say “no”, and you suffer because of it.

It’s a relatively easy character flaw to hide, just do tons of stuff and wear multiple hats and people will largely give you a pass. But for me – I’ve decided that’s not good enough – because I believe God expects more of me than simply spinning plates and getting by. More importantly, I don’t want a seemingly benign character flaw to hold me back from God’s best in the most important areas of my life, and neither should you.

A roller coaster approach to life makes us susceptible to life’s little spankings, like a speeding ticket because you were rushing to get to a meeting you didn’t leave yourself enough time to drive to, or missed opportunities to take part in something that would have been a tremendous benefit if you had done the research and planned ahead. Maybe most importantly, the roller coaster approach can put a strain on your marriage that didn’t need to be there. I confess – I’ve been guilty of this before – and there’s nothing worse than knowing your wife feels uncared for because of a failure to appropriately plan for something that was important to her.

Now you can blame such a shortcoming on personality – chalking it up to the outworking of your sanguine side, or say it’s because you’re a visionary, and shouldn’t somebody else be doing that planning stuff for you that has a knack for organization? But I’ve decided those are just excuses and crutches that have often served as enablers.

In Luke 16:9-12, Jesus says,

“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”

I want to be found trustworthy with worldly wealth, and I believe “worldly wealth” encompasses so much more than just money and finances. Other earthly treasures like time, relationships, physical fitness, knowledge and wisdom need to be stewarded as well, and all are just as important, if not more, as employing Godly management of finances.

Making a change starts with changing how you think. I did a little exercise in my car today where I thought ahead several hours in my day.  I thought through next steps and what I needed to have top of mind. Later I carried the exercise forward by making a list of long-term goals. I believe the old adage is true – what you don’t write down (or type in) rarely gets done. I have made goals related to times with God, dates with my wife, one on one outings with my kids, and projects related to my business and ministry. It’s not the first time I’ve ever written down my goals, but this felt different, because I have a new conviction that planning ahead has a lot to do with fulfilling what God has for me next. Planning ahead makes me more excited about the future. It exchanges “overwhelmed” for “can’t wait to get started”, and that feels really good.

Now here’s the kicker. If we just write down goals and set out to do them in our own strength and intellect, we are missing something very important: God’s kingdom purposes. Hearts turned towards the Lord may have dreams planted by God that line up with his plans and purposes, but have you asked Him what His goals are for you? Asking and then submitting actionable goals to Him will show Him you are about His kingdom purposes, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak into your planning process. It will allow Him to remove anything that is not of Him or that’s rooted in your flesh and could hurt you – before you are miles down the road and past the point of no return.

Proverbs 16:1-4 says:

“To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue. All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The Lord works out everything for his own ends–even the wicked for a day of disaster.”

So it’s simple: get off the roller coaster. Ask God for His plans for you, plan ahead, and then submit your plans to Him. With that approach, your plans will succeed, and you won’t lose your stomach.