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, and we are also asking God to bless the version we have already decided on.
The plan was good. The spreadsheet, the timeline, the backup option, and it was prayed over too, which is exactly why it stings. Then one phone call in March took it apart, and the months since have gone on trying to reassemble some version of it.
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 saying which one wins when the two collide, and the arithmetic in the proverb is the point. Many devices in a man's heart. One counsel of the LORD. Being many is part of the trouble; the word behind devices covers plans and schemes alike, things worked out in detail. God's counsel is singular, and the verb attached to it is that it shall stand, the word for remaining upright when other things fall over. The proverb nowhere says your plans are wicked. It says they are numerous and they are not load-bearing.
So make the 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 survives that is usually short, and it is usually the part that was standing anyway.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 229 is To the Uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).