I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. Ecclesiastes 3:14
God’s plans are perfect. Everything He does stands eternally. Nothing he does needs to be adjusted as things “come up.” Everything is accounted for perfectly in God’s plans. Our plans will never be that.
“Yes, yes,” you say. How obvious. But how often have you been frustrated when your perfect plan was not followed and everything would have been just beautiful if everyone would just follow your plan? Or how often have you worked to craft the perfect plan that will solve all the daily problems? But then, it wasn’t quite exactly perfect, so you throw it out and try again as the problems continue to accumulate.
We react to what God has appointed. He has planned. Already. Perfectly. Our plans are a tool to be used to live wisely, but our plans are always subordinate to His.
One way we live out that truth in our lives is that we make plans humbly, relying on God’s wisdom as we create and strength as we implement. Then we gratefully adjust when His plan for the day is not meshing with ours. Our plans are always subject to his perfect plan.
Don’t keep trying to make perfect plans and throwing them out at the first snag. We react to what God has appointed. We humbly flex. We tweak our plans and continue good works, living in obedience, doing what we are called to do each season.
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
My husband frequently closes our prayers before meals with a request to “bless this meal for the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies for Thy service.” May you sit down to your next meal and see the good in the work you have done, humbly dependent on our perfect God. Then may you be fueled to further service.
Photo Credit: Bridget Duffy
