A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.–Proverbs 16:9
How many times have we thought to ourselves, “This is not at all what I planned”? More than a few suspect! It is quiet common for us to find ourselves in a situation like that. And there is a reason for it. J. R. Miller explained it well:
“There are few entirely unbroken lives in this world; there are few men who fulfill their own hopes and plans, without thwarting or interruption at some point. Now and then, there is one who in early youth marks out a course for himself — and then moves straight on in it to its goal.
But most people’s lives turn out very different from their own early dreams. Many find at the close of their life, that in scarcely one particular, have they realized their own life-dreams; at every point God has simply set aside their plans — and substituted His own. There are some people whose plans are so completely thwarted, that their story is most pathetic. Yet we have but to follow it through to the end, to see that the broken life was better and more effective, than if their own plans had been carried out.”
This is why we take such great comfort in Romans 8:28,”And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”. It will help us deal with our disappointments if we remember that God’s purpose is more important than our plans. It is always better that His purpose be done than our plan fulfilled. God is working in your life for your good and His glory. When your plans get in the way of His purpose they need to go! And we should never protest. What appears to you to be a setback just might be the way for your comeback. Our plans are thwarted so His purpose can triumph, and that’s all that matters.
