So whose plans have changed lately? Oh, right…all of us! It’s funny that this national pandemic that forced us to separate has also brought us together in unusual ways. One point of unity we all share now is the disappointment of failed plans. Some of them have been huge—lives altered forever from losing a loved one. Some have been the postponement or change of iconic life events—weddings, funerals, the birth of a child. Some have been school ceremonies, senior graduation, the play or recital your child has been working on all year. Some, like my family, have had ministry dates cancelled or postponed. Whatever it is, I feel confident all of us can say we are disappointed by a plan in our life that has been postponed/cancelled/changed.
I have never been good at being flexible with sudden changes. I like making plans. I also like sticking to them! So when things change I usually react with a bad attitude and some self-pity. So you can imagine how this season of life is going!
I had a moment this week when I just let all the changed plans sink in. I shed some tears. I felt the disappointment of postponing an opportunity to speak, of Eli postponing several dates to sing and minister, of my girls’ end of the year celebrations and performances being cancelled or unsure. None of my changed plans are that big in the scheme of things. I can’t imagine graduating or getting married or having a baby right now. But still, it stings. And I think it’s OK to acknowledge that, no matter how big or small, it is disappointing when our plans change.
But as I gave myself a chance to just be sad before the Lord, to cry and tell Him my disappointments, He reminded me of this simple verse:
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
This is one of those Proverbs that is quoted often and is sometimes used as a very annoying reminder in times like this. I think the connotation usually attached is, No matter what you plan, God will have his way, whether you like or not.
Is that true? Yes. Is it encouraging when you are disappointed by changed plans? No.
But like so much of God’s Word, there is more to this little verse than the trite statement we often make it into. Following the common formula in Proverbs, this verse compares two contrasting behaviors to teach a life lesson.
The first is, “the heart of man plans his ways”. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. If anything, it is part of our nature as image bearers of God that we devise plans for our future. As Christians our plans should be in submission to God and aligned with His will. But the thing I love about this statement is the simple way it so succinctly defines my heart.
This statement is describing a dreamer. It’s not the logic of man but the “heart”, that inner man (or woman), within us that makes our plans. These plans originate out of our very soul. The word “plan” here means to devise, or invent, or imagine. A daydreamer. It is the idea of someone spending time creating a mental picture of what they hope and dream their event or special moment will look like when it finally comes to pass. But my favorite phrase here is “his ways”. This could also be defined as “his road” or “his journey”. And so the picture here is of a dreamer, heart-felt and imaginative, plotting the course of his journey, what his road of life will look like.
I am going to venture out and say that this picture defines the vast majority of human planning. I know it defines me. A daydreamer. A cultivator of long-term plans that I picture will develop in a certain way to lead me on the life-road I’ve carefully crafted.
Then comes the contrasting statement, “but the Lord establishes his steps.”
This is painting quite a different picture. But instead of a finger wave in our face of how God will ruin all of our best-laid plans, it’s a picture of love.
“The Lord”, or Jehovah, refers to God as the “I AM” or the “existing one”, one that is out of the realm of time, one that always has been, always will be. This Existing One is the master of all plan-making. It is this Jehovah that we imitate when we make our plans. And so this master plan-maker comes and intervenes in our plans not as a destroyer but as an expert, imagining and creating a superior plan. And then comes this beautiful word, “establishes”. It means to make stable, to fix securely. When I read this I get a picture of God wrapping his hands gently around my feet and placing them perfectly in a step. It’s the same action I would use with my child to get a stamp of their painted foot for a craft. Methodical, gentle, careful. He sets our feet in place. And finally, unlike man, Jehovah establishes our “steps.” A contrasting picture to the road or journey a man plans, God is busy focusing on each step we take. One by one, day in and day out.
How many of us have had a dream or plan that we never actually accomplished? Often it wasn’t because the dream was flawed or wrong. Sometimes it was that, in all of our planning for the future, we forgot to take the right steps in the present.
That is the message of this beautiful verse. When our imagined journey starts to change, when the plans birthed in our hearts begin to fail, we have a God who is not shaken, He is right there placing our feet for the next step, and the next, and the next. He establishes us even as we feel everything is crumbling around us.
If you’re disappointed with failed plans, try speaking this verse over your life in a new way. Picture Jehovah, the Existing One, placing your steps right now, for this day. I find deep encouragement in this truth: He has a plan not just for my life, but for my day, for each step I take.