The Best Laid Plans

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
James 4 (click the link)


KEY PASSAGE:
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.” 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. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
First off, I have to say that I love the book of James.  I always have.  James is so matter-of-fact.  He doesn’t seem to have much patience for being wishy-washy or straddling the fence when it comes to issues of the faith.  I love that about him.  He just says it like it is.  

On that note, it was very hard for me to just pin down one part of this chapter that I wanted to write about; honestly I think I could have written something about the whole thing.  But don’t worry… I just picked a small portion.

One of the things that struck me about verses 13-16 when I was studying about this chapter was that James is apparently speaking mainly to businessmen and women (because there were businesswomen too, though few).  Back then people planned for their futures.  They planned to save away money for their retirements, and to travel and everything we do today.

In a world of 401k’s, money markets, investments, insurance policies and retirement options just to name a few, these few verses should (I think) be important to us.

It is my opinion, and apparently the opinion of the commentaries that I read, that James is not saying we shouldn’t plan for our futures financially.  He is saying that we shouldn’t make definitive plans about our future, a “highway plan” it could be called (my way or the highway).  Instead of saying, “I am going to retire in the Bahamas.” We should say something like, “If the Lord wills/allows, I am going to retire in the Bahamas.”  According to James, that little phrase “If the Lord wills” makes all the difference.  I think it shows an openness of heart to where the Lord may lead.  Because we don’t really know, right?

In August I will be celebrating my 10th anniversary with Mary Kay Cosmetics.  It is hard to believe I’ve been a part of this amazing company for 10 years.  I love everything about this company.  Their priorities seem to be in the right order: God (first), Family (second), Career (third).  And they mean it.  They stand by it.  They expect everyone who is a part of the company to order their life that way—from the person on the assembly line putting lipsticks in boxes, to the Independent Beauty Consultant like me, to the Corporate head honcho.  There is no other company like them that I have heard of.

One of the top recruiting topics for women who are considering joining our company is the option for retirement as an Independent Sales Force member.  When you sign on as a Beauty Consultant you have the opportunity (if you choose) to become a Sales Director.  It takes several months of hard work, mentoring others and sharing the product with customers.  Once you’re a Sales Director you have the opportunity (again, if you choose) to become a National Sales Director.  It takes years (usually) of hard work, mentoring others and sharing the product with customers.  But once you’re a National Sales Director, you’re really making the big bucks (and I mean big bucks!).  And that is when the retirement program kicks in.  

Mary Kay (the woman) believed that a woman could do anything she put her mind to, and believed in paying women richly for the work that they did.  She believed that a woman should be able to make as much money as she wanted to, to be able to live the lifestyle she wanted and make choices in life that having money allows one to make.  

As a National Sales Director, you are required to retire on your 65th birthday.  And what does the company do upon your retirement?  They take the highest 3 years (income-wise) of your last 5 years as a National Sales Director and average your monthly income for that time.  And then they pay you 60% of that monthly income average… every month for the next 15 years.  And if, God forbid, you should die before that 15 years is up, your family still receives that money until your 80th birthday.  And let me tell you, most National Sales Directors are retiring on a monthly income which is close to what many of us make in a year.  It’s amazing.  

But I cannot tell you the number of times that I have been at Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas, listening to many of these incredibly accomplished women speak on stage, how many of them talk about their faith in Jesus first.  How many of them use the words “Lord willing.”  It’s mostly in reference to their careers, family lives, etc.  There are many extremely successful women who completely believe that God is in control, and that life can change in a moment and so you can’t have a definitive plan for everything.  

That being said, I do strongly believe that this doesn’t mean all of us shouldn’t be saving for retirement, planning ahead for the future.  Plan away!  We can’t just sit on our duff and say “God is going to do something with/for me.”  No, we have to do the work we believe He wants us to do and plan ahead. But we do so with the readiness to follow God at a moment’s notice.  When God says go, we go.  When God says life is going to change, we accept that and embrace it.  Why?  Because He’s God and He is ultimately in control of our lives, our futures, our families.  His plan is best.  His plan is the one to follow.  So make your plans, but be open to change.

James is challenging us not to make plans without consulting God. James' challenge hits me right between the eyes, because I'm so guilty of doing this.  I am a planner.  I like to have contingency plans for everything.  I like to have things laid out so I’m not too surprised by situations.  It’s so easy for me to do that and to forget that God should be at the center of it all.  

When you think about it, how stupid are we when we don’t include God?  I mean, He’s God. Doesn't He have our best interests in mind? Won't He help us to make the wisest plans?  When I look back on so many decisions and realize that I didn’t include God it just makes me shake my head at my own stupidity.

So my challenge to myself and everyone reading this is to include God in all of your decision-making.  Let us all become mindful of God in every single thing that we do.  And also to remember that God WANTS to be involved in every single thing we do!  He wants to be involved in the details of our lives.  He wants a RELATIONSHIP with us!  We all have our own “God box” that we put Him into—these are my religious activities with which I relate to God and these are my everyday life activities that I do myself. Let’s break God out of that box! Let’s blow those walls to smithereens.  God doesn’t fit into a box!

In closing, read Romans 12:1-2 from The Message.  I can’t put it any clearer than this: 

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Amen.

POINT OF ACTION:

Ask God to show you some current areas of your life where you haven’t included Him in the decision making.  Maybe write them out so it’s easier to see (if you need the visual help anyway).  Maybe think about some decisions you know are coming up in your life, write them down separately.  Post that list somewhere where you’ll see it regularly (your fridge, mirror, etc). Let that list be a daily reminder to you to include God in the details of your life.

PRAYER:

Lord, we so desperately want you in our lives.  We want you in the details.  We want you in the decision making.  We confess that we have not included you as we should.  We confess that we have not made the time for a healthy relationship with you as we should, and as a result end up making our own plans.  Please forgive us.  Please help us to be mindful of You in our decisions.  We are so thankful that you are a personal God, a God who cares about our lives.  You care about our plans and the details of our days.  Please give us reminders when we need them to include you.  Please help us to keep you in the forefront of our minds.  We love you so much and we don’t want to exclude you from our lives.  We want you right in the middle of it all.

WHO AM I?

Hi, my name is Kate Sansom and never in a million years did I ever think I’d be selling Mary Kay Cosmetics.  11 years ago if you’d asked me on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being that I’d rather eat mud, and 10 being that I wanted to sign my agreement that very moment) I was at about a negative 2.  No joke.  I couldn’t imagine anything I wanted to do less than go into other people’s homes, have to stand in front of them and talk to them about makeup and sell them stuff…  But then I watched a Mary Kay lady actually do a “party” and realized that she wasn’t doing anything that I couldn’t do.  She was having so much fun!  I wanted to have fun.  She looked gorgeous, and her shoes were awesome.  I wanted to look gorgeous and have awesome shoes.  Plus I loved to be around her, and I loved the product.  So I decided to join Mary Kay on August 30, 2002.  Second to my salvation in Jesus and marrying Tres, it was the best decision I ever made.  It’s been the best (and only) personal growth course I’ve been paid to take.  Plus the Consultant I watched at that class, Lisa (pictured), is now one of my closest friends among countless others I’ve met because of Mary Kay. I love what I do.  And someday I plan to drive the prized Pink Cadillac.  I’ll give free rides to anyone who wants one!