Our Plans, God's Purposes: Seek Him Before You Start
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." — Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
I believe in setting personal goals. Since starting college, I've set annual goals. After all, they say that if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. But while goal-setting is a valuable discipline, it can become dangerous when we leave God out of the process.
Proverbs 19:21 doesn't say to stop making plans. It says to remember whose plans truly stand. We can fill notebooks with strategies and timelines, but if we neglect to seek God's guidance, we may labor in vain — only His purposes will endure and produce lasting fruit.
Here's what I've learned the hard way: don't make your plans and then ask God to bless them. Include Him from the start. Seek His direction before the pen hits the paper. Wait for His peace before you act. There's a difference between inviting God into your plans and surrendering them to Him — and that difference matters more than most of us realize and practice.
This posture requires humility. It means admitting that your best-laid plans might not be God's plans. It also means being willing to pivot when He redirects, even when it doesn't make sense. But here's the promise: when you seek the Lord in all things and obey Him, He will move heaven and earth to guide you (Proverbs 3:5–6). His purposes will yield greater blessings than your plans could ever hope to achieve on their own.
Now, if you're reading this and thinking, "I don't even know how to hear from God" — don't panic. And don't be hard on yourself. Two of the most helpful ways to start hearing more from the Lord are to read His Word consistently and to ask Him — regularly and honestly — to reveal His will to you. God's purposes are shown to us based on our posture toward Him. The more you seek, the more He reveals. Your relationship with Him affects everything.
Seek the Lord in all things. Trust His purposes over your plans. And watch what He does.
Big Idea
Don't make your plans and then ask God to bless them. Include Him from the start, seek His direction before acting, and trust that His purposes will always outperform your own.
Questions to Ponder
Do you have plans or goals for this year — and did you seek the Lord's guidance before making them? On a smaller scale, do you pray about your day each morning and invite the Lord to lead it? Have you had experiences where, in hindsight, you've wished you'd involved the Lord sooner? What would it look like to start involving the Lord in your actions before you act?
Application
This week, before you start each day, take two minutes to present your schedule to the Lord. Not a wish list — an open hand. Share what's planned and ask Him to redirect anything that doesn't align with His purposes. At the end of the week, look back and notice where He showed up in ways you didn't expect.
Before the Lord — a daily devotional by Blake S. Crawford. Read more and subscribe free at blakescrawford.com/before-the-lord.