This Day in History: 0000-03-15
March 15 – Proverbs 19:20-21
Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.
You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
Do you have a tendency to charge ahead with your plans without giving a whole lot of thought to whether or not those plans are aligned with God’s will? I know I do! Most of the time, I don’t really even think this is a problem because the plans I’m making aren’t in any way contradictory to scripture. But when I read through the Bible, I can’t help but notice how many times people went forward with plans they had not consulted God about and missed out on His best for them as a result. I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever want to miss out on God’s best for me!
The wisdom found here in Proverbs is a good starting place for us as we seek His will in our decisions: get all the 1) advice and 2) instruction you can and 3) understand that He’s the One in control and His purposes will ultimately prevail, no matter what.
Get advice – The Bible speaks of godly council many times. Especially in Proverbs. If our desire is to be wise (and it should be) then we will surround ourselves with other believers who are also committed to Scripture. We will live in community with them and will seek advice as we navigate the decisions of life. We will be quick to listen and slow to speak. A fresh perspective often brings a great deal of clarity if we’re willing to listen.
Get instruction – We must study the Scriptures every day so that we will be familiar with it. This way we will be more likely to know if the advice we’re getting is really godly council. We’ll be able to more quickly spot bad ideas and less likely to act in direct conflict to God’s will. But when we face a specific decision, we should take a little time to search through our Bibles in order to see if there is any way in which God wants to instruct us. Many times He will use His Word to lead us in a way we wouldn’t have thought of on our own.
Understand that He’s the One in control and His purposes will ultimately prevail. Whether we seek wisdom or not, we’re not going to get in the way of God’s plan. What He is going to accomplish will be accomplished. What we can do is miss out on blessings, or take a much more difficult path to the end result than we needed to. Think of Jonah. God’s purpose was for the people of Nineveh to be warned that their Godless behavior was going to bring down the wrath of God, and His purpose was for Jonah to be the one to bring that message. Ultimately, Jonah did take that message to Nineveh, but because He was not quick to seek and follow God he took a very difficult path and had to spend three days and three nights in the belly of a giant fish! Gross. And Jonah also missed a blessing because even when he did take God’s message to Nineveh his heart remained hard and instead of rejoicing in the miracle God performed in the hearts of those people, Jonah sat in the desert and sulked because God did something different than what Jonah would have done.
Let’s not let that be our story! Let’s be quick to seek God in our plans. Let’s ask for advice and search for God’s instruction. Let’s remember that He will accomplish His will, with or without us, and resolve for it to be with us! We are His, and He has great blessings in store for us when we are wise enough to follow Him.