His Plans

 

 

We are just not competent to direct our own lives. 

 

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

 

The Lord created us so that we would need Him to guide us in the best direction. He gave us the freedom to choose the way to go in life (Deuteronomy 30:19). However, left to our own reasoning, we will think everything is alright. We will think nothing is wrong with our sins. But when what is wrong is uncovered by the truth of God’s Word, our foolishness becomes obvious. We must constantly renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word for our thoughts and our plans to be established (Romans 12:2).

 

“The preparations of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:1).

 

Proverbs 16:1 speaks of our hearts being “prepared.” Psalm 10:17 says that the Lord will prepare the hearts of those who are humble. If you connect Proverbs 16:1 with Proverbs 15:33 (the verse preceding it), it is proof of how crucial humility is in preparing our hearts. Therefore, humbling ourselves before the Lord is the single most important thing we can do for the Lord to begin to prepare our hearts. 

 

“Commit your works to the Lord,

And your thoughts will be established” (Provers 16:3).

 

Proverbs 16:3 speaks of our thoughts being “established.” We prepare our hearts to receive God’s truth when we humble ourselves and are renewed in our hearts by the Word. We conform to His Word when His truth is established in our hearts (Romans 12:2). 

 

Strong’s Concordance says the Hebrew for “works” in Proverbs 16:3 means “an action [good or bad]; generally, a transaction; abstractly, activity; by implication, a product [specifically, a poem] or [generally] property.” 

 

When we throw all concern about our “works” (our actions and activities) over to the Lord, then our thoughts—our plans—will be established. In other words, when we believe and trust that the Lord will establish our plans, He will. We will have His perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

 

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2).

 

Only the Lord can correctly evaluate and direct our lives. We can’t correctly evaluate and direct ourselves. Realizing this truth humbles us and makes us realize the importance of the Holy Spirit’s involvement in our lives. This is why we need the Word of God to teach us the way to go. It is only in our union with God that we can ever fulfill our God-given potential. So we should not lean on our own understanding but acknowledge Him in all of our ways, and He shall direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

Solomon’s wisdom reveals what will happen when you subject your “works”—all of your actions, plans, and activities to the evaluation of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will weed out all that is wrong. 

 

What is left will be established. It will be His will. His plans will be your plans, and they will succeed.

 

Humility is honoring God above anything else (Proverbs 15:33). Take a step back from what you think and subject your thoughts to the Lord’s evaluation. Surrender your accomplishments, failures, ideas, and questions to God in prayer every day. Your heart will be guided in the way you should go (Proverbs 23:19). Ultimately, your heart will follow your prevailing thoughts. If you keep your mind on the Lord, your heart will follow. And Jesus said that is where your treasure will be (Matthew 6:21).

 

 

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