Proverbs Chapter 19

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."

Have you ever known or worked around the type of person who is always running from one scheme to another. They come up with cunning plans to get rich quick. Or they have great plans to make life easier. Or maybe they can’t stay in one place for more than a year or two before their plans dictate they move to another job in another city for a better life. It’s one thing after another. One set of great plans after another. Unfortunately none of their great plans seem to work out. The perfect job, the perfect place to live, and the perfect life are always just out of reach.

Maybe you are that person. At times I have been. There have been times in my life when this described me perfectly. I just knew my plans were good ones. Sometimes they were well thought out. Sometimes they were done on the fly. But I knew they would work. After all they were "my plans". And therein was the problem. The word in this verse translated in the ESV as "mind" is most often translated as heart. Jeremiah uses this word for heart in Jer 17:9 where he writes "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Now if my heart is deceitful and wicked and difficult to know then why should I rely on the many plans that are hatched in it?

Think about this for a minute. I follow the plans of my heart over and over again. Then over and over again my plans fall short of satisfying my deceitful heart. Do you see the common denominator here? They are "my" plans, "my" thoughts, "my" ideas and "my"(fill in the blank). It really doesn’t make much sense. On the one hand I have this deceitful, wicked and hard to know heart but I continue to rely on it to plan and guide my life. On the other hand God waits with a purpose and a plan that will stand up strong yet I refuse to get in line with it. His is a plan that will remain. It will accomplish His intended purpose.

If you find yourself frustrated with plans that never seem to work out; If you find your plans never seem to satisfy your longing for something more, something easier or something better; If you seem to expend a lot of energy and have little to show for it; Then I encourage you to let go of your plans and seek His purpose and plan for your life. He will likely not show you the whole plan at once. He may only show you the plan for the next step. But no matter how He reveals His plan to you and no matter how He leads you in it, you can be confident in this... He is always faithful. You can trust Him. He will not fail you. His plan will stand. You may not see a change in your surroundings or circumstances or even outcomes but you will see them in a different light. In submission to His plan and purpose you will find a peace that passes human understanding. You will find contentment in a path of His choosing. And you will find great satisfaction in accomplishing His plan for your life.