Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

When you have to face challenges before which you feel helpless, remember that with you goes the One who is able to accomplish everything.

“You are meaner than Cain.”

Calm down, I’m not saying it to you. This was an expression that was used a lot, when I was growing up, to refer to people who acted in an evil way.

Later the phrase changed to “you’re meaner than Channing,” in reference to a character in the Falcon Crest series who was always hatching plans to screw up his surroundings.

And the truth is that their plans used to be quite successful.

And that made me pretty angry.

Not because she was bad, but because when I made my plans they almost never, to say never, went the way I thought they would.

It used to happen to me like in the joke about the Spanish hell, the one in which supposedly a demon passed by every day at 12 o’clock to light the oven and torment the souls. The problem was that when there was gas for the oven there were no matches, when there were matches there was no gas, and when there was gas and matches the devil didn’t get through.

So I grew up believing I was a planning nullity.

But when I started working I began to discover that maybe it was something that wasn’t just me.

In fact, the rare thing is that the plans worked out well, to the point of being sent abroad by my company for three weeks to assemble a machine and spend seven months there.

Then I began to think that maybe the issue was not just mine, but that perhaps, for Spaniards, planning is not in our DNA.

But then my company sent me to Germany for three months to receive training at the headquarters of a famous German multinational.

And then I discovered that the Germans also missed more than a shotgun at a fairground booth when it came to planning.

So, I thought that the problem with the plans was not in me, nor in my genetics, but that it is something that affects us all for a very special reason: we will never have all the data. Not even all of the most important ones. Although the truth is that the Germans had them.

What we can always count on, however, are the unforeseen events.

So, is it worth investing time in planning our activities?

And the answer is a resounding yes. Because even planning badly is better than not planning at all.

Because you might save yourself the time to sit down and think. However, you will spend the day running back and forth solving problems that were easy to foresee, and wasting time by not having coordinated basic actions.

And if this is so in our natural life, what will not happen to the plans in our spiritual life, with an enemy lurking night and day to bring us down?

To him who is able to do

But once again God comes to our aid with a promise that, curiously enough, is tucked in as if by stealth.

In this “half-saying farewell” of the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul could have said:

Now to God who is mighty, to him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all ages, forever and ever. Amen.

This would be a correct and totally spiritual phrase. However, the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to modify it slightly. And so it says (Ephesians 3:20-21):

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. .

The meaning of the phrase does not change much: we must give glory to God. However, this small addition is of great importance to us.

Thanks to him we can realize that we are not alone when it comes to making plans. Indeed, God has already prepared them for us. He is only waiting for us to approach Him in order to set in motion all the necessary preparations for these plans to become a reality.

Because God is not only capable of making perfect plans. It is also the only one able to make them perform far beyond our best dreams or our capabilities.

Because, when you walk in God’s ways, and serve Him, it is not only our capacity that acts, but we have the help, guidance and power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us.

So the next time you sit down to make plans for your life or for your ministry, remember that God is the only one who has the ability to make perfect plans and the power to do it all.

And that it is enough for us to seek his will, believe him and obey him so that we can say with complete confidence that, in God, we will do exploits.

God bless you.

Cover photo by NASA on Unsplash