Proverbs: Thoughts, Work, and Plans

Posted by Timothy

September 22, 2008

Although not known for absolute certain, Proverbs is said to have been written by the wisest of kings, King Solomon. As part of this blog, I include thoughts and meditations on Proverbs that bring out key concepts towards living a life of leadership and success in this world.

For myself, I know I am constantly battling with, “What are my plans and what are *my* ideas. How will I succeed in this world?”

These three Proverbs have been impactful for me in the right emotional and mental posture and discipline:

“We can gather our thoughts, but the LORD gives the right answer.” Proverbs 16:1

“Commit your work to the LORD, and then your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

These are pretty self-explanatory, pretty much saying the same thing. The nuances play out in how one practices them.

The way I am trying to go about executing these:

Allow God as part of the Planning Session
“Gathering thoughts” is the planning of all the ideas and thoughts that come throughout the day or through discplined planning. What would it be like to have a brain-storm session with God in the mix, to ask him, “What is the right answer?” Where should I focus? Should this be in high-tech? Do I want something that will give me flexibility in work and life? Is it worth spending my savings on it?

Planning is Important, allow God to help us execute and prioritize
Notice how the brainstorming and planning is still something that we do. It isn’t all about letting God tell us what to do and we follow blindly.

There needs to be planning, a desire of where one wants to go — as done in the first part with God providing the right answer.

Then once we have plans, the goal-making process usually involves the specific steps and the sequence of how to get there. It’s more tactical. I think this part involves letting go and trusting God, because “the LORD *determines* our steps.”

This part is really asking and being guided and is the hardest part to do when one wants to be productive and go-go. But getting the first part right is so important…because if the planning and “gathering thoughts” stage didn’t include God….”determines our steps” may not be where we think we are going!

Execution as Worship
Do the things as if doing them unto God, not unto man. To give one’s work, committing it to God by trusting him and doing it in His name, is a form of worship and is critical to the success of your plans. Is it better to succeed in a God-formed planned that isn’t 100% yours, or to have 100% of a plan without God’s success?

Specific Scripture that I want to write down but not necessarily have much commentary will be written down here.

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