Torch, Winter 1993

tells me to live life in a manner that is "well-formed or decorous," according to Strong 's Concordance , completing tasks in "regular arrangement," with "official dignity and order." Strong's goes on to explain the words "in order" to mean "to arrange in an orderly manner, to appoint, determine, ordain, set." Therefore, my plans should allow a certain amount of control over my life. My days should be decorous, or in good taste, and determined in an orderly way. The goal of this command emphasizes that I show order in my personal life, rather than commanding that I adopt a universal standard of organization. Christ's years on earth show the outworking of the Godhead's plan. Even when the Lord allowed His plans to be seemingly "interrupted," the interruptions were achieving His stated goals. Interruptions can sidetrack an immediate goal while fulfilling a long-range goal. The Lord tells us to "redeem the time" (Ephesians 5: 16), i.e., to rescue the time from loss. When God providentially supplies an opportunity for me to work toward a long-range goal and I buy up that opportunity, I have rescued the time from loss. Viewing the interruption as 10 Torch my good fortune and changing my plans to meet the interruption allows me to bring glory to God while I also work toward one of my long– range goals . Parents and counselors see this principle operating frequently in interpersonal relationships. In order to meet the long-term goal of nurturing the development of another human being, we must sometimes set aside daily maintenance tasks. Rather than being a sign of disorganization, this could be a sign of meeting a more primary goal. While many people accomplish much with their lives, an observer cannot always see what is being accomplished at any given time. I cannot always evaluate my own planning effectiveness daily, weekly, or even monthly. There are times when my schedule might change radically as I move to fulfill a larger, more important goal. This is one way personal planning allows me to exert control over the events of my life in order to meet lifelong goals . The concept of personal planning allows more flexibility than time management does . The criteria for achieving personal planning also free me from standardized techniques and make it possible to avoid a brittleness in my planning. Personal planning adjusts the scheme to me, rather than requiring me to adjust to the scheme. This also reduces the false guilt feelings which seemed to accompany every purchase of another "easy" planner. The philosophy of personal planning is purposely ambiguous in order to allow for each person's adaptation. When developing my personal plan, I first determined those life goals which are most important to me. These might include people, art, or professional achievement, and will vary in number and priority for each of us. Life goals identify my life message to the world. Other people recognize them as the characteristics of my daily life. They are the "good works" (Ephesians 2: 10) which God has ordained for me beforehand- those things which others remember about me. I also needed to assess my energy level and my temperament. Three questions help to determine a realistic number of life goals. 1. How much stress can I tolerate? How much "down time" do I require? 2. How many hours a day can I work, or spend with people, or be creative? 3. When I am pushing to accomplish a large goal, what daily maintenance chores can I ignore? Meeting goals most often involves making tradeoffs between many good and