Success!

Life as a Navy wife has taught me a multitude of lessons, but if I could summarize the last twenty years with my own simple proverb, I would say, “make the best plans possible, then expect change”. This “proverb” is not far off from what most of us experience on a regular basis and yet the mantra we tend to live by is, “make plans and expect God to bless them”. I don’t know if it is our American culture or simply just human nature, but we tend to define success as seeing our plans come to fruition. We live by the idealism that if our plans work out then we are successful, and we have God’s blessing; but if they don’t then we are either failures or we didn’t know how to plan well in the first place.

In Proverbs 16, Solomon paints a different picture. The Message communicates verses 1-3 beautifully, “Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word. Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good. Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place.”

The key point here lies in verse 3, “Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place.” The point is that if we relinquish our own plans to God, expect him to take us on the best path possible no matter how crazy the journey may be, and then trust him with the rest, then our plans will become his because our deepest longing is to do God’s will. Proverbs 3:5-6 communicates a similar message, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”

So is God telling us not to plan? Not at all! He has given us talents, abilities, and brains that are capable of making good, successful decisions. Yet, our very first step, and indeed our daily posture must be to seek the Lord. We must constantly turn to him in prayer, approach our shepherd with open hands, and seek his guidance in our lives. When we expect God’s best, we are guaranteed success. It may not always appear to be success in the world’s eyes, but when we long for God’s will above all else, we are guaranteed his very best!