|
Trees are bare and yellow leaves litter the ground around our apartment. There's a nip in the air, and temperatures fall below freezing overnight. We've recently celebrated Allen's birthday, had friends over for Canadian Thanksgiving, spent a day apple picking, and enjoyed fall in our corner of Québec. But now, we're shifting into another season here in Canada and we've been laughing so much lately about how our lives have changed in the last year or so.
I'm continuing my slow trek through Proverbs, and Proverbs 19.23 has been ruminating in my heart for days now.
"Many are the plans in a person's heart,
but it is the Lord's purposes that prevails."
Boy, our plans have changed, and not just in the obvious ways. We thought we'd be in Togo, living in a hot weather climate and working with vulnerable children. We thought we'd study French in the southern Alps of France. We thought I'd be homeschooling, and we'd have a brand-new imported vehicle. Nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope.
That's the nature of plans: They change. They fluctuate, they get broken, they get remade, they are cancelled and interrupted. Plans, as good and thought-through as they may be, are variable.
Proverbs 19.23 recognizes that. I imagine Solomon's thoughts were more like this, before he edited the proverb down to be more precise: "Whoa, y'all have lots of plans. Maybe slow down some. There's a lot going on in your mind... and you know those plans are going to change, right? They aren't the law; they're just plans. They'll be interrupted by like 5:30 tomorrow morning. Don't put your hope in plans. Don't bank on those. There's something deeper for you."
That something deeper? The Lord's purpose. The Lord's purpose for our family, for each of us individually, persists despite changing plans. It prevails. It lasts. We can bank on His purposes, and we can lean into them when everything in life seems upside down. Proverbs 20.5 says, "The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but the one who has insight draws them out."
|
