The Lord's Counsel
Proverbs 19:21 NKJ
There are many plans in a man's heart,
Nevertheless the Lord's counsel—that will stand.
I know this is not Romans chapter seven. Sometimes you just have to go with plan B. When you read a chapter and nothing really registers on your heart, you have a couple of options. The first option, plan A, is to read and reread the chapter. The second option, plan B, is to fall back on another reading. We're going second option today.
There are many plans in our hearts. There are many ways we can go. But the Lord's counsel is the one that stands. This has been a key verse in helping me make decisions. Many ideas come my way. Some are from the good people around me. Some I have come up with on my own. So which way do I go?
The first thing is I have to make sure I have actually prayed about the plans. It's way too easy to map out a good plan, particularly if it's one that will benefit the kingdom of God. This is more than church related. This can be business related or career related, or relationship related. Is the plan something that will bless others and bless the kingdom of God? Check, but don't move just yet. Sometimes, the plans we make that benefit the kingdom are poorly disguised personal ambition.
A number of years ago, I was seriously considering using The Ark to branch out into television. I went and spoke with some people at Lakewood to listen to their counsel. I had staff who were encouraging me to pursue that vein of ministry. There was nothing devious or wrong about going into television. I am sure that the ministry would have been a blessing to someone. The cost would have been high. So instead of just moving forward, I prayed about it. The plans seemed to be great, but the more I prayed about it, the less enthralled I became with the idea. Was the plan to move into television part of my ambition? That's certainly possible. But in waiting to determine if television was the Lord's plan, I was able to discern that the plan in my heart was not the Lord's counsel. One way to determine the Lord's counsel is what keeps coming up in your heart when you are quiet, when you are praying?
There is a great verse in the Psalms that works in conjunction with our verse for today. Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it: Unless the Lord guards the city the watchman stays awake in vain." We want the Lord "building the house," we want the Lord's plans. His plans, His counsel works. Our plans are not always the right way to go.
Take the time to ask the Lord for His counsel before making decisions. I encourage you to start with smaller decisions and not just wait for the huge life-altering ones. His counsel is always worth the wait.