Hey there…
If I cut up a strategic plan into puzzle pieces,
From being a strategy, will they collectively desist??
What if I organize them into books, chapters and verses,
Then give you its creator’s mind to see patterns that exist??
What if the puzzle pieces are then organized,
Into history, songs, wise precepts, letters and predictions?
And across these, strategic points are unified?
What would it take for you to perceive the author’s intentions??
From my experience… 1
The first steps in developing a strategy that’s complex,
Are doing contextual analyses of the topics,
Of relevant ‘landscapes’, and the diverse, targeted subjects.
Then independently reviewing the results these depict. 2
Next, engage partners and beneficiaries, critical.
Then organize expert teams to outline, and flesh out the plan.
On end-results, targets and progress indicators, haggle!
Then devise means-of-verification, and a resource plan.
When done, summarize the plan, succinctly,
In a strategic objective, over-arching.
Distribute the plan assiduously! 3
Then, to generate the plan’s results, ‘start marching’!
That’s a ‘nutshell version’ of what I did throughout my careers,
In economic development programs across the world,
Orchestrating designs of projects and programs that adhere,
To strict USG standards, tight budgets, and timelines preferred.
In retirement, in The Lord’s strategic program I’m deployed,
Not to conceive or design any aspect of it, no, no!
But to engage with folks who prefer to deny or avoid,
And a few who, much more about His AWESOME plan, seek to know.
His is a ‘multi-millennial strategic plan’,
That covers 7 ages of human history. 4
It’s His Holy Bible, a book that’s so much more than,
‘A religious book by men of Jewish ancestry!’
Big problems perceiving The Bible as a strategy,
Are its layout, contents and timelines, each of which is …m-a-s-s-i-v-e!
Its layout isn’t time linear. Its contents are ‘choppy’.
And as noted, its timeline is incredibly …e-x-p-a-n-s-i-v-e!
Threaded through it all, is a persistent, strategic theme,
With Israel a microcosm of His global focus.
It’s inspired by The Lord, and penned by His ‘prophetic team’.
Its theme is His love for us, who about sin are …so callous.
Perceiving His love in its 5 components is not hard, 5
If your spirit’s eyes and ears are opened by Him Who is LOVE.
But if against The Lord, your carnal mind remains ‘on guard’,
Some things He did, allowed and predicts,
you won’t equate to ‘love’!!! 6
And this you should know: With Him, that is quite OK.
Our opinions of Him and His works, direct or indirect,
Won’t change Who He is, or His plan, think what we may.
When touched by His Spirit, we’ll see, to His love, all dots connect.
So when you decide The Holy Bible’s to read,
First, please pause, and pray this short prayer aloud:
‘Lord, This is Your strategic plan, history’s seeds. 7
From my understanding, please remove the shroud.
‘Please open my spirits’ eyes and ears to see and hear, within,
Your loving acts and voice for me, and for all of mankind.
Cause me to perceive your judgments of, and remedies for sin.
Help me as, with your strategic plan, I seek to align.’
To this prayer, can you say…
Amen??
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1 My careers as an international economic development strategic planner in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and later a consultant for USAID, and many of its contractors and grantees.
2 ‘Landscapes’ include the relevant geo-socio-political frameworks: people, communities, institutions, policy frameworks, land areas, etc., from the perspective of their desired objectives, barriers to progress, lessons learned from past experiences, supportive resources availability and needs, etc.
3 Distribute either the full plan, or relevant excerpts to relevant parties and entities.
4 See: Human History Ages (Series)
5 History, songs, wise precepts, letters and predictions, most of which are intertwined, rendering them a challenge to isolate.
6 Just as kids can’t/don’t/won’t perceive strict parenting as ‘love’, we adults typically do not perceive The Lord’s judgments as love or loving. It takes real spiritual maturity to perceive love in judgments. Such may be seriously lacking across the world today, just as it was lacking in the days of ancient Israel. I seriously doubt any of the folks who drowned in the global flood could perceive the flood as an act …FROM LOVE, HIMSELF!
