The Perfect Plan

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9 ESV) 

A man's steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way? (Proverbs 20:24 ESV) 

A few months ago I was telling a friend about my plan to start a blog on fundraising. At one point I said something like, "I'm not really sure if this blog idea is from the Lord or if it's just a passing fancy. So, my plan is to write two dozen entries before I start posting them. That way if it's not from the Lord, there's nothing lost."

Several days later I was still thinking about what I'd said to that friend.

The next morning I made the first post.

What changed my mind?

I realized that I'd be a hypocrite if I wrote a blog about doing fundraising despite weakness, fear, uncertainty, inability and a whole slew of good reasons not to do fundraising... and yet gave into those same fears when it came to writing those blog entries.

See, the reason I didn't want to start the blog was that I wanted to have the Perfect Plan first. In my mind, having two dozen entries beforehand would somehow guarantee success. I'd be able to see the "end" before I even had to begin. By waiting for 24 blog entries, I could rely on what I'd already done rather than relying on God.

I was choosing a Perfect Plan over a Perfect Savior.

That plan doesn't work any better in the realm of fundraising than it does in blogging. Sometimes I find myself wanting to have at least one appointment per day lined up before I even schedule a trip (tricky, I know!) I delay writing a newsletter until I know it'll be my best one yet. I hesitate to ask someone for support because I just don't think they'd be "on board".  In each case, I'm putting the cart before the horse and virtually guaranteeing failure. My fears become self-fulfilling prophecies and I can easily go on to become bitter about fundraising or even God Himself.

None of that is God's fault, though. It's just my Perfect Plan turning out to be not-so-perfect after all.

In my experience, I've become a better fundraiser as I've done more fundraising. I'll become a better blogger as I do more blogging. I'm becoming a better husband as I've been married longer. I'm better at following Jesus now than I was back in 1999 when I took my first steps. On that day, it wasn't important that I knew where I'd be on November 1st, 2012. It was important that I was no longer waiting to know.

This is my 24th Gospel Fundraising blog entry. There have been over 1200 visits to date. Dozens of people read every entry. Many of you have contacted me to say how much these small gospel reminders have helped you in fundraising. Some have even asked me to write on particular topics (and please do!)

My point isn't to say that this blog is something great. Rather, it's to say that my original comment to my friend was wrong.

If I'd waited on my Perfect Plan, much would have been lost.

Let's not wait on any more Perfect Plans.

Let's trust God.

Let's start fundraising.