A Word in Season: Man’s Plans (Proverbs 16:9)

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I imagine that many of you have plans for today. In fact, I hope that you do.

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I hope you're not sitting there or walking wherever you may be with an aimless spirit without any real plan or purpose.

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In many respects, it is good and right for us to plan our way, to think about what we're going to do with our time and our energy and our money, how we're going to invest the resources that God has put in our hands.

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Do you have a scheme for today? Do you have a plan for this week, perhaps the month?

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Are you thinking across the year or perhaps even projecting further ahead? You're working out what your particular goals are, what targets you're aiming at and what steps you need to take in order to reach them.

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You're thinking about how you're going to apportion your time day by day. You have projects and purposes that you want to accomplish.

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And as we've said in itself, that may be no bad thing. In Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 9, the wise man tells us that a man's heart plans his way.

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And there's a sense in which that in itself is a neutral statement. It is just the way of the world.

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Most of us in some way are planning some way. We're determining our course through the world.

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And even if that plan is to not do very much, there's still in some sense a determination to do it.

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But the problem lies in the fact that our plans for our ways come from our hearts.

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Now, for many of us, that hopefully will mean that we are concerned for God's glory.

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We want our plans to be righteous plans. We're not just looking at the things of this world and determining what we can accomplish and how we can do what we want.

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But we're serving for the glory of the Lord, our God. But tragically, for many more, it is all self -centered.

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It is my way through my world. And we think of ourselves as the great goal and end of all our efforts.

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Our plans terminate in the things of this life. We're trying to accumulate whether it's power or wealth or prestige or whatever it may be.

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For some, it extends perhaps no further than social media appreciation or the accumulation of money in the bank.

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But what happens when a man plans his way? The wise teacher reminds us that we are dependent creatures.

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Yes, a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

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So, you may have righteous schemes. And if you do, it is upon God that you depend for their success.

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You might look to the Lord and pray that He would be pleased to bestow upon you that grace, that courage, that strength, that wisdom that you need to accomplish the purposes that you have laid forth.

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You can, I hope, confidently anticipate that the Lord God would smile upon your efforts and endeavors.

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But He is not obliged to do so. He is wiser than we are, and He can direct our steps so that even the best laid plans come to nothing, so that His plans are accomplished even though ours may fail.

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And how much more, then, would that be true with regard to the schemes of godless men?

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The Lord is able to turn those upside down in an instant so that all their boasting, all their pride comes to nothing.

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And ultimately, though the heart of a man plans his way, if it is not in God's way, if it is not according to God's word, if it is not sensitive to God's will, then it will end in destruction and tragedy.

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So let us, by all means, plan our way. But let us first consider our heart, what state it is in, and what direction it is going, and to whom it is inclined.

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And let us make sure, first of all, that it is directed toward God and His glory so that all our plans are carried out with an if the

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Lord wills written over them, with a desire that if they will not accomplish His glory, they will come to nothing.

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Let's make sure that our hearts are devoted to the Lord. And let us understand that even with whatever wisdom and insight and understanding we may have, the

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Lord can bring our plans into another course and direct our steps where He will.

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And if we are His people, then that will ultimately be for our good and for His glory.