Our Plans – God’s Purposes!

(Prov 16:9 NASB) The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

I will be honest with you, when I first read this verse from the New International Version (NIV) I was a bit troubled by it. The NIV reads: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” It sounded like Solomon is saying that we can make our own plans, but God is going to make us do whatever He wants us to do. But I know, and I hope that you know, that that is not true.

We can fight against God, ignore Him, or simply disregard Him altogether if we want to; albeit at our own peril. So that can’t be what Solomon is saying. This caused me to look a little deeper. The Hebrew word used as “determines” in the NIV and “directs” in the NASB is the Hebrew word kun. This is the same word Solomon’s father David used in the 51st Psalm when he wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” The Hebrew word kun is the English word “right” in Psalm 51. This word means to be firm, stable, steadfast, and established.

In this light we get a better understanding. Solomon is saying that we can make our own plans, but only God can help those plans come to pass. The Message Bible paraphrase of this really brings this out; it reads: “We plan the way we want to live, but only GOD makes us able to live it.”

It was this realization that caused Jeremiah to say, “I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course” (10:23). Jeremiah went on to tell us that Jehovah Himself has made plans for us (29:11), so our job is to find out what those plans are and to align ourselves with them.

Wonderful things happen when there is an alignment with our Godly assignment.

Frustration sets in, however, when we expect God to bless what we want to do, when what we want to do does not align with what He wants us to do. Instead of stubbornly asking God to bless what we are doing, why not do what He is already blessing? And what He is already blessing is His plan for our lives.

James addresses this issue of our plans vs. God’s plans for us in his letter. James said: “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.”

James warns us against making our plans, without God’s input, and then thinking that God is supposed to make sure they come to pass. James even tells us that boasting in our own plans is evil. Why is it evil? It’s evil because it leaves God out of the equation.

Remember what Jeremiah said, our life is NOT our own. We have been bought with a price. This is not to say that we are merely puppets, but it does mean that we ought to honor God enough—the God that saved us from eternal damnation and made plans to bless us—to align with His plans for our lives. Now, this presupposes that we know what those plans are. This is why we must spend the time with God that we need for Him to reveal His plans purposes for our lives. James goes on to say, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (see 4:13-17). James expected us know God’s plans for our lives and then to DO IT, to put action to our faith!

So what does this mean to you? It simply means that if you want things to go well with you, you ought to align yourself with what you have been assigned by God to do!

Father, I am preparing for 2010 to be the best year of my life. I have made and continue to make plans. However, I don’t want those plans to be JUST my plans. I value and seek Your input. You promised to lead me and I declare, by faith, that you are and that you will. You lead me as I layout the plans for the year so that they will NOT be merely something I concocted in my mind. And then, when it comes time to bring them to pass, I have faith that the execution phase will be a joint venture between You and I. In Jesus’ name. Amen!