Best-Laid Plans

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When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16:7–9, ESV

There are so many great proverbs that are given to us in the Bible, and each of them has great lessons that we all would be well to listen to. The ways of our God are most often centered on humility and grace. When we think too highly of ourselves, we often find trouble. There is the old joke, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plan.” When we trust fully in God, we plan through our prayer and are ever mindful of the reality that God may change things that we desire because they may not be fully in line with what He desires. It is hard sometimes because the things we see are good, and we may believe that they will do great things to glorify Him. Yet, if He is not behind it, it will not be successful. Personally, this is a constant area that I have to revisit. Since returning to the Christian faith, my plans have often been sidelined. I tried to avoid entering into becoming a pastor, and God graciously let me frustrate myself as I continually tried other things as I kept hearing over and over, “You should be a pastor.” I would love to say that I haven’t run into more areas where I tried to guide things my way, but that would not be true. I am thankful for God’s patience. I am sure that many listening to this can relate. The best-laid plans, even when they are great and wonderful, will fail if they are not within God’s hands. Outside of God, we are not righteous, but when we are considerate and ponderous, we will find the steps our Lord has laid out for us, and in this, we can confidently walk even when it may not be in line with what we may have first thought was right.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.