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| Proverbs 19.21 (NIV) Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. |
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| My schemes have been the planning of fools, assuming my way is better than God’s.* |
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We
have to make plans sometimes. Today, I planned to keep my appointments with the
podiatrist and the hairdresser. Tomorrow, I plan to deliver Meals on Wheels in
the morning and get a mammogram in the afternoon. Planning doesn’t come natural
to me but because I crave order, I have learned to plan. It was necessary for
my job and I actually came to enjoy the process. I found that even when things
didn’t go according to the plan, I was in a better position to wing it from
there.
In
my personal life, making appointments is one thing; looking ahead to the future
is another. When my plans go awry, so do I. I have learned that it’s better for
my mental health if I don’t make plans. As it turns out, Solomon seems to
believe as I do - that it is better to be flexible and let the Lord’s purpose
prevail.
In
James 4.13-15, we read, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go
to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow . . . Instead, you ought to
say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” It is when we
make plans outside the Lord’s will that we get into trouble. Before we get too
carried away with elaborate schemes for the future, we should stop and ask for
God’s direction and blessing.
How
many times have you manipulated and schemed to make something happen when God’s
blessing was not on it? How satisfying was the experience?
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| What should we desire, but that all our purposes may agree with God's holy will?* |
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