“Many plans are in a person’s heart,
But the advice of the Lord will stand.” – Proverbs 19:21

Have you ever hesitated in asking for advice because you didn’t really want the person’s opinion on the situation? Maybe you were determined in your own way, or you just didn’t want to hear opposing advice. Sometimes, if we are honest, we treat God this way. We really don’t want His advice or input because we are afraid of how His plans are different from our own. When we do this, we assume that God’s plan will be totally different from ours, but more problematic, we assume His plan will hurt us or leave us unsatisfied.

We must remember that when we look to the Lord for advice and we seek His Word for counsel, we come to the source of life. He is the sustainer of life and the One who created everything we love so much. When we make our plans on our own, we think we have our best interest in mind. Maybe we do to some degree, but God created us. He knows our gifts, the things we are passionate about, even the desires of our hearts. When we seek God’s plan and ask for His counsel in these things, we submit to His authority instead of our own. In the end, when we seek the source of all life about what to do with our own, we are truly following our purpose and moving toward who we are made to be.

• When was a time you were hesitant to seek God’s Word in a situation? Why was it so hard to come to Him?
• When have you pitted God’s plan against your own? How are you encouraged to know God understands your giftings and desires even better than you do?
• Pray and ask God to guide you to truly desire His guidance in all of your plans.