Planning for the future
When the topic of money comes up, it seems we are very quick to reference the parable of the rich fool. However, this question is focused on the opposite side – not preparing for the future. On average, the typical American actually has very little saved for their later years. Long-term care is very expensive. From the perspective of assisted living, nursing homes, memory care, etc., one could hardly have too much saved. Is it sinful or irresponsible for people to say, “I’m not going to worry about it”? “I’ll let my kids or the government deal with it”? “Nursing home insurance is too expensive, so I won’t bother or worry about it. I’ll just go on Medicaid.” Many have a very cavalier attitude about the whole subject until it actually becomes a crisis. For Christians, what is the right approach?
You are asking some very practical questions. Perhaps we could start by looking at some courses of action to avoid.
One such idea is thinking that our plans for the future will successfully address every possible detail. James 4:13-15 teaches us that there are limitations to our plans and so we do best to put our plans into the Lord’s hands.
Another wrong idea is that I don’t need to make any plans for the future at all. Scripture explains that everything belongs to God (Psalm 24:1) and God entrusts his possessions to people, requiring that they be faithful in managing what he owns (Matthew 25:14-30). Faithfulness in managing God’s possessions is fostered by planning, as Jesus illustrated in the context of the commitment of Christian discipleship (Luke 14:28-33).
Avoiding those extremes will put us somewhere in the middle: recognizing the wisdom of planning and the limitations of planning. As managers of God’s possessions, we will want to use the resources God has entrusted to us wisely and faithfully.
The problem with the rich fool in Jesus’ parable, as the Lord explained it, is that he stored up things for himself but was not rich toward God (Luke 12:21). His plans were entirely self-centered. God was nowhere to be found in his plans because he had no place in his life for God.
Planning for something like long-term health care certainly displays kind consideration of others (Philippians 2:4) and is very much consistent with the Bible’s teaching that selflessness is to be the way of life for the child of God (1 Corinthians 10:24).
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4). Those are the inspired words of King David. Those words very nicely put the subject of planning in perspective. Plans are wholesome activities for Christians, and God’s blessings are needed for the successful completion of plans.