Lily Ma
Life planning is an unavoidable pathway to unlock the blueprint that God has for my life, and it is a lesson that I have to learn for the rest of my life.
In the Bible, Samuel was called by God when he was little; whereas when Abram was called, he was already 75 years old. Throughout their lives, there were times when they sought to follow and live for God; there were also times when they were lost and confused. It looks like while God would give us special callings at different stages in our life, He also wants us to learn to follow him faithfully on a daily basis.
I have been a Christian for a few decades. Sometimes I imagine how nice it would be if I could be guided by the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire like the Israelites in Exodus time; or it would be pretty good too if I could have a life coach who would always give me guidance. While I am thankful that I did encounter some mentors and friends who gave me invaluable advice, a lot of times I still felt alone and lost searching for the purpose of life by myself – I could only rely on Jesus to shepherd me through those times.
There is a Chinese saying that says, “At 30, I can be independent and firmly established; at 40, I have no doubts; at 50, I know the decree from God.” I am glad that at 50, I know myself better inside out. From my strengths and my weaknesses, to the dreams and urgings that were planted deep inside my heart, I have better grasp on how to utilize them in response to the calling of God. However, I have to admit that when I was 40, being sure of my own life principles was not something that I was able to achieve at that time.
This is my eighth year serving at Presence Quotient®. In these past 8 years, I have been heavily involved in ministries that focused on cultivating the lives of Christians. As a parent looking at our next generations, I see that their walk with Christ is getting harder and more challenging.
Yet, I am thankful that with the leadership of Dr. Agnes Ip, we have developed a life planning curriculum, based on the training materials that we have created in the past, to help Christians live a life driven by purpose and spend their limited time on earth more wisely. If I could relive my life again, I hope that I could have come across this type of systematic materials and got the guidance that I didn’t get in the past.
In the next eight months, I invite you to participate in the prayer campaign of the “Presence Life Planning Curriculum.” We will pray for each of the eight topics in the curriculum (1) on a monthly basis. At the same time, we would be meditating on the areas that we need to grow more maturely. I also invite you to pray for the life planning of the next generations around you.
This month, while we are praying for ourselves and our next generations about our life planning, please prepare your hearts and meditate on the following verses:
Prayer: I pray that while I am living in a hectic world that is full of noises, I will be able to realize that my life belongs to Christ. Also, I pray that I will not conform to the world: whether in the areas of making decisions, pursuing goals, managing my time or handling my relationships; instead, I would be willing to be transformed by God in each of these areas. Amen!
Please check out Presence Quotient®’s website for the eight major topics in “Presence Life Planning Curriculum.”
Presence Quotient®, also known as Presence, is a Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides tools and training to help individuals and families apply Christian and family values to their everyday lives.
Copyright © 2018 Presence Quotient®. Should you be interested in posting this article online, please indicate Presence Quotient® and the author. If you wish to publish this article in print, please contact us at info@presencequotient.org.