Your Plans and God’s Plans
Jeremy Walker serves as a pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, England, and is married to Alissa, with whom he enjoys the blessing of three children. He has authored several books, and is grateful to preach, teach, and write as opportunity provides.
This post is adapted from Jeremy’s upcoming 50-day devotional, A Word in Season: 50 Days of Hope for Hard Times. Click here to pre-order your copy today: A Word in Season
A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
I imagine you have plans for today. In fact, I hope you do. I hope you are not sitting there with an aimless spirit, without any real plan or purpose. In many respects, it is good and right for us to plan our way, to think about how we will use our time, energy, and money—how we will invest the resources that God has given us. Do you have a schedule for today? Do you have a plan for this week, perhaps for the month ahead? Are you considering the coming year or even projecting further ahead? You are, perhaps, figuring out your specific goals, what targets you are aiming for, and what steps you need to take to achieve them. You are thinking about how you will divide your time, day by day. You have projects and purposes you want to accomplish. And, as we have said, in itself, that may be no bad thing. In Proverbs 16:9, the wise man tells us that a man’s heart plans his way. In itself, that is a neutral statement; it is just the way of the world. Most of us, in some way, are planning our paths. We are planning our course through life. Even if the plan is not to do very much, there is still, in some sense, a determination to do it.
The problem lies in the fact that our plans come from our own hearts. For many of us, that hopefully will mean that we are concerned for God’s glory. We want our plans to be righteous plans. We are not just looking at the things of this world and determining what we can accomplish and how we can do what we want. We are conscientiously serving for the glory of the Lord our God. But tragically, for many more, it is all self-centered. It is my way through my world, and we think of ourselves as the great goal and end of all our efforts. Our plans terminate in the things of this life. We are trying to accumulate something, whether it is power or wealth or prestige or whatever it may be. For some, it extends perhaps no further than a social media following or the accumulation of money in the bank.
But what happens when a man plans his way? The wise teacher reminds us that we are dependent creatures. Yes, a man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. So, you may have righteous plans. If you do, it is upon God that you depend for their success. You might look to the Lord and pray that he would be pleased to bestow upon you that grace, that courage, that strength, that wisdom that you need to accomplish the purposes that you have laid forth. You can, I hope, confidently anticipate that the Lord God will smile upon your efforts and endeavors. But he is not obliged to do so. He is wiser than we are, and he can direct our steps so that even the best-laid plans come to nothing—so that his plans are accomplished even though ours may fail. How much more, then, would that be true with regard to the schemes of godless men? The Lord is able to turn those upside down in an instant so that all their boasting, all their pride, comes to nothing. Ultimately, though the heart of a man plans his way, if it is not according to God’s word and sensitive to God’s will, then it will end in destruction and tragedy.
So let us, by all means, plan our way, but let us first consider our hearts—what state they are in, what direction they are going, and to whom they are inclined.
Let us ensure that our hearts are directed toward God and his glory, so that all our plans are carried out with an “if the Lord wills” written over them, desiring that if our plans will not accomplish his glory, they will come to nothing. Let us make sure that our hearts are devoted to the Lord, understanding that despite any wisdom, insight, or understanding we may have, the Lord can redirect our plans and guide our steps as he wills. If we are his people, this will ultimately be for our good and for his glory. However, if we are not his people and refuse to turn to him, then consider that he will still be glorified, even in bringing our steps to destruction.