Did you wake up this morning with a goal in mind? Maybe a vision of how you wanted your day or week to play out?
You then made a plan, a roadmap with the steps you needed to realize your vision. But then something suddenly came up. Now you have to readjust your plans, perhaps even trash them completely, because your agenda doesn’t have the priority it once had.
We live in a world filled with competing agendas, including our own.
The fact that the world we live in is also filled with lots of misinformation, leads to the notion that many people will lie, cheat and steal to get whatever they want.
God’s Word found in Proverbs 19:21 offers us both an exhortation and hope.
† Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21
The Bible often exhorts us to make plans for the future. But when we do, we need to do so with an awareness that our plans may be overridden by the Lord’s prevailing purpose.
At the same time, we can also find hope in the truth that in a world filled with competing agendas . . .
The Lord’s purpose will prevail over every other plan that stands in opposition of it.
To Prevail
The word prevail means to overpower; to prove more powerful than opposing forces.
For us, this means God’s redemptive plan for humanity and the world cannot be thwarted. His plan stands firm forever!
The Myth about Goals
A lot of people think having the right goals is the secret to their success. This is a myth!
I’m NOT saying goals are not important, they are!
But here’s the thing: People’s goals and personal agendas change all the time.
Members in a typical family change jobs, homes, and schools frequently as they grow and enter into new seasons of life. People’s goals change, get revamped or readjusted in one way or another all the time.
Having the right goal is not necessarily the difference maker in achieving success.
Just because every team in the NFL has the supreme goal to win the Super Bowl, doesn’t mean every team will actually accomplish that goal. The prize only goes to one! The goal is not necessarily the secret to achieving one’s success.
The Truth about Habits
In a world filled with competing agendas, your habits are far more important than your goals.
Tell me your goals and you’ll show me WHAT you are presently aiming for. Tell me your habits and you’ll show me WHO you are.
Your habits and behaviors will always reveal far more about WHO you are and WHERE you’re going than your goals.
Your Roadmap vs Your Compass
Think of your goals as a roadmap and your habits like a good compass.
When navigating a world filled with competing agendas, you may have to make changes to your roadmap, maybe even throw it away all together.
But with a good compass, your habits will always keep you pointed and going in the right direction. This is especially true when those habits are in alignment with God’s purpose and find their strength in His Holy Spirit!
Let me encourage you today:
In a world filled with competing agendas, including our own, consider the words of wisdom God offers us in the book of Proverbs:
† Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB1995
When we can learn to make our plans an outward expression of His plans, we can live with a greater expectation that the Lord’s purpose will prevail over every other plan that stands in opposition of it.
Let me PRAY for you!
Lord Jesus, You are the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last! Your Word stands firm forever! Your purpose and plans for our lives cannot be thwarted.
Help us this day to trust in You with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. As we seek to acknowledge You in all our ways, direct our steps and make our paths straight. Make our plans an outward expression of your plans. And lastly, help us to find comfort in the truth that Your purpose will prevail over any plan that stands in opposition of it. In your name, we pray. Amen!