does the future belong to those who plan for it?

Short answer: no. We don't own the future, God does. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). God has plans for us, but our choices determine how well or poorly we participate in God's plans.

So why do we often settle for less than God's plan for our future?

1. We tend to think of our inadequacies and our past mistakes.
Maybe Moses was settling when he was tending a flock for his father-in-law (Exodus 3). He certainly had plenty of excuses for not choosing to move toward God's future. When we dwell on our inadequacies or our past failures, we are a house with the electricity gone, a car with the battery dead, or the cold ashes of a fire. As a people we need to look to the Holy Spirit to power us, to heal us, move us, and heat us. We need to decide to let God work in us and through us, rather than defining ourselves by what we lack.

2. We forget whose image we are made in.
We often don’t know our real, God-made selves very well. Our culture spends plenty of time trying to tell us who we are, or who we would be if we just had the right products. But how well do we know the shape God made us in? How well do we know our spiritual gifts? When we know how God intended us to operate we begin to understand where the Enemy will attack us, and we can build on our strengths and make wise (God-driven) decisions despite the many voices and forces attempting to mislead us.

What is the single thing to remember about God's plan for our future?
God does the planning; we do the preparation. We prepare to "live into" God's plan for our lives. Preparing requires God-inspired thought and Spirit-inspired movement.

And a final word from Matt:
We need to cast our crowns at the feet of God. We need to give God the honors we collect as we live into God's future for us. That keeps us humble. It reminds us that without God's help we would be off doing the wrong stuff! Giving our victories to God also helps us celebrate the building of God's Kingdom.