Daily Manna · Day 229 · August 17
The Counsel That Stands
“There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”
We pray over our plans, and we mean it. Often, though, we are asking God to bless a plan we have already settled on.
Think of a good plan. It had a spreadsheet, a timeline and a backup option, and it was prayed over too, which is exactly why it hurts. Then one phone call in March took it apart, and the months since have gone into trying to put some version of it back together.
Solomon is not mocking planning. The same book says, "Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house." He is telling you which one wins when your plans and God's plan run into each other, and the numbers in the proverb make the point. There are "many devices in a man's heart," and there is one "counsel of the LORD." The word for devices covers plans and schemes alike, things worked out in detail, and part of their trouble is simply that there are so many of them. God's counsel is single, and the proverb says it "shall stand," which means it stays upright when other things fall over. The proverb never says your plans are wicked. It says they are many, and they cannot carry the weight.
So make your confession with a pen. Open the plan again tonight and cross out the parts you were holding on to for the sake of your own reputation. Keep only what you would still want if somebody else got the credit for it. What is left is usually short, and it is usually the part that rested on God's counsel all along. That part will stand, because He has said it will.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 229 is To the Uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).