“Mortals make elaborate plans, but GOD has the last word. We plan the way we want to live, but only GOD makes us able to live it.”
Proverbs 16:1, 9 MSG
Are you a planner? Love to keep everything under control?
Nothing’s wrong with planning ahead. In fact, many of our daily activities require some type of planning, like arising on-time requires setting your alarm; your in-college daughter requires budgeting and saving to help her through; or planning for a wedding, a graduation, a family reunion and the list goes on.
God’s wisdom, from the Book of Proverbs, says, we, as mere mortals plan and plan and plan…but God (my two favorite words) directs our steps.
Steps are required to reach your plans, your planned destination. You walk toward that goal, step-by-step. No matter if you’re running, walking or shuffling, each movement consists of steps. One step at a time. And God gives us just enough grace (undeserved favor) for the step we are on. (We tend to want grace for the whole staircase, but then we wouldn’t be trusting the One who Sees!)
So, you can plan all you want, but God is the One who allows those plans to materialize…or not so much. He has the last word.
That’s why you hear some say, “I’m going here or there, or doing this or that…Lord willing.” And that’s correct as God sees the big picture of your life. You see a snapshot. He sees the end from the beginning. You see here and now.
Plus, God allows us to live. Period! You can plan how you want to live, but God makes us able to live it. So any amount of planning, if you’re not alive, is ludicrous.
Romans 11 tells us that EVERYTHING is from Him, through Him, to Him and of Him. And that includes His children, you and me.
So when you think your plans are falling through or not working out as you had planned, remember your Heavenly Father is large and in-charge. And that’s a very good thing.
He saves you, protects you, and allows you to wait as He has something waaaaaay better in mind than your plans…and that would be your character. Yep. He’s in the business of conforming you to the likeness of His Son. And in the scope of eternity…that’s a bigger and better plan.
