The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:1 (ESV)
“Life will never be the same,” I told my friend. “No matter how this turns out, life will never be the same again.”
We walked through a white marble hospital corridor, its antiseptic walls etched with veins of gray. All of it narrowed in my sight to an endless tunnel blackened around ragged edges of my vision. The marble veins swayed like waves in an ocean. My foggy mind made every step seem dull and slow, like double vision jarred out of sync. Surely morning would come, I thought. I would wake up.
Years come and go, each packs its share of joy and sorrow, but one thing for sure, all have surprises. Some are wrapped in darkness and others in glorious light.
I love Proverbs 16. Written by the wise king Solomon, God’s sufficiency and sovereignty flow throughout the entire chapter. Possessing more power and riches than any other earthly king, he acknowledged absolute sovereignty belonged to God alone.
Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Proverbs 16:3-4 (ESV)
I have found it much easier to give God happy outcomes than to relinquish the broken pieces. Those hardest to pry from my hands are my greatest treasures. They reveal what my heart holds dearest. Sometimes with the tender hands of a surgeon, He searches it out and removes what shouldn’t be there in the first place. And in that carving away, I recognize something far better. I discover letting go of what I’ve held on to is like giving a precious gift to a King.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)
I think of this as I scroll through the years in my mind. Perhaps those crises of life-will-never-be-the-same-again-kinds, so difficult at the time, are exactly what help us know with assurance God’s plans for us are good. Perhaps in going through the upending pieces of carefully laid plans we find our foundation. Certainly in submission we discover our plans are in capable hands.
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:33 (ESV)
Phil
Always enjoy your writing