Plans of the Heart

Plans, do you have plans? Plans for tomorrow, plans for your children, plans for the future? How do we make our plans, how do we decide what we will do?

Proverbs 16:1 says "To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue." 16:9 says "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." In these two proverbs we see the providence of God. Although we may make plans, and we should, God providentially works in our lives to accomplish His purposes.

He is, after all, the Great Planner. He created the sun, moon, and stars. Just think about that. We struggle to plan what we will do this afternoon, or next week. On the fourth day of creation He put all the stars and planets and nebula, all that we see in space there. In 24 hours he put it all together. Can you imagine what a planner He is?

What about the sixth day, when He created man? The pinnacle of His creation, man in the image of God himself. And for this most special creation, did God have a plan? Does He have a plan for you and me? Ephesians 1:4 tells us "... He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." For those of us that He called to be children of God, He chose before we were even created. He had a plan for us, for our creation, for our lives, for all of eternity. Do we really understand that?

When I make my plans for today, tomorrow, and the future, do I take that into account? Or do I attempt to be sovereign, as if I am lord over my life? The Bible is clear that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all. He works providentially in our lives to accomplish His purposes, not ours. Isn't the wise course of action to seek God's plans for our lives, to see him as he is, sovereign over all?

I was thinking about that this morning as I was getting ready to set out on another day. Its not my day to spend as I will, its his day. That made the day a whole lot better. I set out, with my wife, as joint dominion takers, to seek His specific plan for this day. When I stop to think before I make each plan how it fits within God's mandate to bring all things under Him, to accomplish His purpose, not mine, the picture gets much clearer. After all, we are told in Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Not because God is your genie in a bottle making your plans a sucess, but because you have aligned your plans to be those that the Lord has for you, and His plans never fail.