Proverbs 7:1 - 20:21
Everyone has heard the phrase, "the best laid plans go to waste." The Scottish poet Robert Burns introduced it his poem To A Mouse, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."
We have all experienced this problem.
We like to make plans for everything. These plans are our dreams and the deep desires of our heart. They focus on very personal things like careers, marriage, and children. In our families we make plans for vacations, weekends, and get-togethers. Even in our churches, we have plans for activities, outreach, discipleship, and buildings.
Our plans don't always go exactly like we think they should. And when they don't, we often get discouraged, frustrated, or angry. Sometimes, we are even heartbroken.
But there is some consolation from scripture.
Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
To be completely honest, I look back on my life and all the plans that I had about ten years ago; I am extremely glad that nothing turned out as I planned.
I am not in the career I had planned.
I am not in state I had planned.
I do not have the friends I had planned.
I do not have the health I had planned.
I have something much better, I have what God has planned.
I have a family, a church, friends, a job, and mission field that only God could have planned. And it fulfills His purpose.
There were some plans made about 2000 years ago by the Sanhedrin, Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, Herod, and a mob of followers. Their plan was to put an end to the teachings and life of Jesus. But even in their plans, God had a purpose that prevailed. It is found in Acts 2.
(22-24) “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,* put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."
(32-33) "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear."
(36)“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
The next time your plans don't go exactly as you think they should, remember that God's ultimate purpose will always prevail: the saving of many lives and and conforming His sheep to the image of His son.
