Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 ESV
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9 ESVP
Perhaps you have heard it said, “Man plans and God laughs.” James 4:13-17 tells us that we should not say that we will do this or that today or tomorrow for we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Instead, we should say if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. He goes on to say that when we say what we will do without acknowledging God’s control that we are boasting in arrogance.
Now people like Dave Ramsey will tell you that you need to plan when it comes to your finances and please understand that I am not saying that you shouldn’t do that. We do need to plan. We need to have an emergency plan, we need to have a financial plan. I am by no means saying that planning is a bad thing. It is said that those who fail to plan should plan to fail.
What I am saying, is that God is in control. We should submit our lives to God and understand that He controls everything around us. When we focus on God, we naturally include Him in our plans. We recognize that He is in control. We pray about our plans and hopefully we pray for His guidance prior to making plans. Matthew 6:33 tells us that when we focus on God and put Him first in our lives that he takes care of everything else.
God knows what is going to happen to you five seconds from now and ten years from now. When we trust in Him to guide and direct our lives, our lives just work way better. Trust me, I’ve been there and done that and got the t-shirt. A prime example of this is the beginning of our summer. You may recall that I mentioned the wall of our above ground pool literally ripping apart and ripping a huge hole in the liner. Now, we could have dipped into our emergency fund and repaired or replaced the pool, but we had prayed about it. We have had our pool for eight years and have grown accustomed to cooling off in it. Any of you who live in Louisiana, or have visited in the summer, know that it is very hot and humid here. We really wanted our pool back up and running. We had someone come and give us an estimate to repair the wall. The estimate to repair the wall was the same price it would cost to replace the pool. As much as we wanted our pool, we agreed that we should save and do it next summer. About a month after the pool was destroyed, our central air unit went out upstairs. Now the only thing worse than the heat of a Louisiana summer, is experiencing that heat upstairs in a house with a metal roof. It’s sort of like being in an oven. Because we had not repaired the pool, we were able to afford to replace the cooling unit. You see, God knew that our air was going to go out. He knew this when the pool tore up. As desperately as we wanted to replace our pool, once we prayed, we knew that we needed to wait. As nice as it would have been to have our pool, I don’t think I would want to have to sleep in it to stay cool. I thank God that we listened to him.
He knows what your future holds, won’t you trust in Him to hold your future. He does anyway. It is just much easier when you trust in Him and draw near to Him and follow where he leads.
We should always plan and be prepared for what life throws at us. The best way to do this is under God’s guidance. Make God a part of your plans each and every day. It just doesn’t make sense to plan and not include the One who is in control of everything, right? Our scripture passage tells us that His will is going to be done, even if it interferes with your plans. Won’t you trust in him today? Let him direct and guide you.
Have a great day!