“To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue.” Proverbs 16:1
Upon looking up the meaning of the last part of this verse, I found it simply means that God has the final say. This reminded me of the passage in James…
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
If the stuff you want to do, the stuff you dream about, doesn’t line up with God’s plan; you’re wasting your effort and time. When your hope is met with a “no”, hope takes a hit and your ambition wavers. One might say to seek his “yes” first and go from there.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12
The Lord doesn’t have to tell us his plans, in fact he often doesn’t tell us at all. Instead of us waiting around for a miraculous sign, we are to step out in faith knowing the Lord is on our side. He is our good Father and based on our growing knowledge of who he is, we can have hope and confidence.
Ultimately, human ambition says, ”I want more”. Godly ambition says, I want more of what God has for me. We tend to believe God has less for us than we could get ourselves. Insidious lies, indeed! God’s plan is often different from our original plans, but it’s guaranteed to be infinitely better.
Jonathan Duncan