“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
I have been buying a steady supply of cherry tomatoes for years. When the grandkids still lived nearby, I could leave a basket of them on the kitchen counter and watch them disappear in no time. They would walk by, pop a few into their mouths, and keep going. Most of their friends had devleoped the habit as well. Around here, those little tomatoes were eaten like candy—which is probably every grandmother’s dream when it’s children raiding her kitchen.
Cherry tomatoes do have one annoying habit, though. If dropped, they will roll, and roll, and roll.
Drop one on the kitchen floor and that little thing can cover an astonishing amount of territory—around a chair leg, under the table, headed toward the refrigerator as though freedom lies somewhere behind it. And naturally, it never rolls somewhere convenient. It does not stop politely beside my foot and wait to be retrieved. No. It heads for the one place that requires considerably more effort than a cherry tomato deserves.
Life can be annoyingly similar.
I usually have some idea of what I want to accomplish in a day. Most of us do. There are things that need doing and only so many hours in which to do them. I like a plan. A plan gives the comforting impression that the day and I have reached an agreement.
The day, unfortunately, is often unaware of this agreement.
The phone rings. Something takes twice as long as it should. Someone needs something. Something quits working. One small change bumps into another, and by afternoon the carefully arranged day looks as though somebody shook it.
Then I read, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”
There is an interesting tension in that verse. I devise. God directs. Apparently, the two are not always going to look exactly alike.
And really, there is something almost comical about asking God in the morning, “Please direct my steps today,” and then becoming irritated when He does.
Not there, Lord. I meant direct the steps I already planned.
That is when I have to smile at myself.
God’s direction can be surprisingly ordinary. Something needs my attention that I had not planned to give it. Someone needs more of my time than I expected. An opportunity appears to use something God has given me in a way I had not considered. A need comes along that reaches into resources I had mentally assigned somewhere else. Not every interruption is divine direction—sometimes a dropped tomato is just a dropped tomato—but I don’t want to become so devoted to completing my own agenda that I lose the ability to recognize when God is nudging me away from it.
The better question at the beginning of the day may not simply be, “What do I need to get done?” but, “Lord, what do You want to do with what You have given me today?”
That reaches beyond my schedule. My time belongs to Him. My talents belong to Him. My treasure belongs to Him. And then there is trust, because trust is what keeps me from coming completely unglued when He spends one of those differently than I had budgeted it.
I think that is why I like the idea of plans being written in pencil. Pencil does not mean careless. I can make a perfectly good plan with it. I can organize the day, make appointments, set priorities, and know exactly where I intend to be at three o’clock.
I just leave the eraser in God’s hands.
That may be the part we sometimes forget. We ask God to guide our lives, but guidance implies movement, and movement occasionally involves a turn we did not anticipate. Proverbs 16:9 does not say the Lord directs our plans. It says He directs our steps.
There is a difference.
Plans sit on paper. Steps move.
So I will keep making plans. I will also keep buying cherry tomatoes, which means I will probably continue retrieving them from ridiculous places. But I hope both will remind me of something I don’t want to forget: my plans are useful, but they are not sacred.
Reflection Questions
1. When I begin my day, do I leave enough room in my plans to recognize God’s leading if He redirects them?
2. Am I attentive to the ordinary ways God may place someone or something in my path that needs my time, talent, or treasure?
3. When circumstances change unexpectedly, is my first response frustration, or have I learned to stop and ask where God may be leading?
4. Is there something that has recently changed direction in my life that I can view differently by trusting the God who directs my steps?
Prayer Prompt:
Heavenly Father, Your Word says, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” Help me to plan wisely without becoming so attached to my plans that I miss Your leading. Keep my heart attentive to the people, needs, opportunities, and changes You place along my path. My time, my talents, my treasure, and my trust belong to You. When You redirect something I had planned, quiet the temptation to fret and help me look for Your hand instead. Teach me to recognize Your providence in ordinary moments and to follow willingly when the path turns somewhere I did not expect. I trust that wherever You lead, You have already made provision for what You ask of me there. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If this devotional stirred your heart to follow Christ more closely and to walk with purpose, take the next step in His Word—“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11). Keep your eyes on Jesus and let Scripture dwell richly in you day by day.
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