Planning is tedious, hard work. But those who don’t make a plan for the day, a plan for the month; a plan for the year, end up taking whatever comes to them. Their lives become a series of urgent situations based upon someone else’s priorities.

Habakkuk 2:1-3
I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Notice God said to “write the vision.” This means Habakkuk had to make plans for the realization of his vision.

Some precious ones let their dream—their vision—die because of all the clutter that comes their way during the day. When clutter comes it begins to erode your dream by overwhelming you. You will want to quit; and it’s okay to want to quit, just as long as you don’t do it. It’s always okay to feel like quitting as long as you don’t do it.

Pastor Tommy Barnett taught me that one night after I preached at Angeles Temple in Los Angeles. He said to me as he was dropping me off at my hotel, “David, don’t you ever quit.” He continued, “you can think about it, just don’t do it.” I answered, “I won’t quit, Tommy. I won’t quit.”

God respects people who plan. He gave Noah a plan for building the ark, but do you think God wrote it all out for him? No, Noah had to write the plan out.  Someone may say, “Well, no, I don’t write things down. I go by memory.”

• Can you imagine what the ark would have looked like if Noah went by memory? He wrote out the instructions and planned. In fact, even today we can read the very instructions God gave to Noah.
• Solomon planned the Majestic Temple.
• Moses had to plan the Tabernacle. Before Passover they had to spend days in planning for the Passover.

God respects planners. Jesus planned a mansion for you (John 14:1-3). God planned: day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six, and day seven (Genisis 1:1-2:3).

He planned you.

Do you realize that God planned a supper for you 6,000 years before the supper was going to take place? (Revelation 19:7-10). He planned The Marriage Supper of the Lamb that’s going to take place in the likely near future. He had that planned 6,000 years ago! Wow, He’s a long-term planner.

God respects planners. God honors planners. You know why people don’t plan their day, plan their week, plan their life, or plan their dream? Because it’s hard work. The first step to making your dream come true is to get a plan for it. It’s not easy to lay out on the floor with paper, calendars, schedules to organize the year.

Do you want a good year? Plan like a champion; plan like a real champion (Psalm 20:4, Proverbs 12:5). God had a plan to get us into Heaven. The amazing thing to me is He had the plan even before we sinned (Ephesians 1:4), Isn’t that strange? He must have known we were going to sin. So He had a plan all worked out to get us out of the sin mess and knew exactly what it would cost Him to do it.

He had a plan for the birth of Jesus Christ. God knew the exact moment that Jesus would be placed on that cruel Roman cross. He knew the exact moment Jesus would be raised from the dead and the exact second He would ascend into heaven.

Do you know what else He knows? He knows the exact moment He’s going to give orders for Jesus to come back and get His Church.

It’s all in the plan.

Plan like a champion. Don’t walk through this life without a plan. God, in prayer, will give you a plan for the day, a plan for the week, a plan for the month, a plan for making your dream come true.