Proverbs 19...Our Plans vs. God's Will

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." (Prov. 19:21) Also see Prov. 16:9 and 20:24.

I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time thinking about and planning for the future. I was the kid who drew pictures of his future house, and every girl I dated was a prospective wife. Where would I live? How many kids would I have? What kind of career would I have (I wanted to be a zoologist, a marine biologist, a writer, a farmer, a member of the Coast Guard, and the list goes on)? The point is this: I always have been and I still am a planner.

One of the lessons I've learned in the last few years is that despite all the planning I may do, nothing is guaranteed and anything can happen. For example, when I was living and preaching in Spruce Pine, NC, I just knew that I would never move away. In fact, I told the brethren there on many occasions that I planned on living there for a very long time. These thoughts were in my mind as recently as last summer. But now I'm living in Kentucky.

Now that I'm in Kentucky, I have all kinds of plans, things I'd like to do, but now I'm a little more conscientious of the principle of Proverbs 19:21. Despite all of my plans and desires, God has a will and a plan for my life, and that ultimately needs to be my concern.

People sometimes ask me, "How long do you plan on living in Mt Sterling?" My response is, "I don't know." I might be here for six months, six years or sixty years.

Let me make something very clear: there is nothing wrong with setting goals and making plans for your future. In fact, there's a real sense in which prudence demands some level of planning. But in all of this we need to keep things in perspective. James 4:13-15 says, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'--yet you do now know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"

So don't get ahead of yourself. Trust God. Seek His will!