The Partnership of God’s Providence and Our Planning

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

Sept. 1, 2024

The Partnership of God’s Providence and Our Planning

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. ² All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. ³ Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. ⁹The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Prov. 16:1-3, 9

I thought on this Labor Day weekend, as many of us get ready to leave the slower pace of summer and get back to a more hectic schedule with kids going back to school and vacations all used up and the turning of the leaves, that rather than do another Psalm or go back into Romans, I would share a practical message from Proverbs about the importance of planning. According to Proverbs there is a partnership between God’s providence and our planning.

The plans of the heart belong to man. It’s only human to plan. Plans belong in our heart and the plan in our hearts - the things we hope to do, the goals we hope to achieve, the outcomes we hope to get - belong to us. The plans belong to us.

The outcomes belong to God. The answer of the tongue is from the Lord. God has the last word!

So commit your plans to God and He will establish them. We plan, we work, God establishes. There’s a partnership between God’s providence and our planning. The word providence means God’s guidance and care over our lives. It means we aren’t in control of our lives, God is. Our plans don’t determine the outcome of our lives, God’s providence does.

We trust God’s providence, God uses our plans.

Why is planning important? First of all, full disclosure, I’m not the best planner so this isn’t coming from someone who is naturally wired to plan everything out. I’ve gotten better over the years but I still tend to be on the more spontaneous, take it as it comes, side. And sometimes that works out, sometimes spontaneity is good, but I know there are times when I leave good opportunities on the table when I fail to plan.

So this isn’t coming from some Type A personality who plans everything out and has a three, five, and ten year plan for everything. But I’ve come to believe that planning is important and while I’m grateful for where I’ve gotten better at it, it’s an area I want to improve in. Maybe you feel the same way.

So…why is planning important? Three reasons:

1. God is a planner

If God, who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-wise, chooses to plan then how much should we? Planning is one way we imitate or reflect our Creator. The Bible speaks of God’s planning:

I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰ Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. Isaiah 46:9-10

In Job 42, after God rebukes Job for thinking he understands what God is doing, a humbled Job answers, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. Job 42:2-3

In Jeremiah 29:11 God speaks these words to the Jewish exiles: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer. 29:11

God planned our salvation through His Son Jesus: God has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a planfor the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and on earth. Eph 1:9-10

And Peter, in his first sermon ever, declared: This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Acts 2:23

God is a planner. Planning is one way we carry the image of our Creator.

2. Planning makes a real difference in our lives

God wants us to trust Him with our lives, but He also wants us to prayerfully plan. Planning is a part of trusting and partnering with God so that we accomplish the good purposes He has planned for us.

I’m not talking about our salvation. We don’t partner with God to accomplish salvation. Jesus alone accomplished the work at Calvary and our part is simply to place our faith and trust in his finished work.

But Proverbs 16 helps us understand that there is a partnership - a synchronization - between God’s purposes for our earthly lives and our plans. As we commit our work to God, He establishes our plans. If we don’t plan we don’t give God plans to establish. Doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us or won’t bless our lives, but not planning has different results than planning. Life looks different when we plan than when we don’t.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Prov. 21:5

Diligent plans lead “surely” to abundance. Acting hastily (without the forethought of planning) comes to poverty. Planning and failure to plan have opposite outcomes. Opposite destinations. Planning leads to abundance. Lack of planning comes to poverty. And don’t think of abundance and poverty as speaking exclusively about money. There are many other, more important ways we can experience abundance or poverty.

We can be rich or poor in relationships. We can be rich or poor in accomplishments. We can be rich or

poor in character growth. We can be rich or poor in how we manage our time. We can be rich or poor in spiritual growth. There are better ways to experience abundance than monetary wealth. And there are worse ways to experience poverty than being financially poor.

Planning can help bring abundance to our lives in many ways. It can help us achieve the goals we want to achieve. It can help us make changes we’ve been wanting to make. Planning can help us focus on our priorities so we’re not neglecting the important because of the constant demands of the urgent. Proverbs 6 reminds us through the example of the ant storing during harvest in preparation for the coming winter, planning ahead can help us prepare today for what’s coming tomorrow.

Planning can help us move from where we are to where we want to be. Planning can help us accomplish more than non-planning would. Planning makes a real difference in our lives.

My point is simply that life looks different when we plan than when we don’t. Two people who have equal faith and equal love for the Lord may end up in completely different places for a very practical reason: one plans and the other doesn’t.

3. God has ordained a limited partnership between His providence and our planning

Limited because in now way is our salvation a partnership between us and God. Jesus accomplished it all by his death and resurrection and our part is only to believe in what Jesus did for us. In fact, the moment we try to add any of our efforts to what Jesus did, the Bible tells us we empty the cross of its saving power.

But in our daily life, we should entrust ourselves to God’s providence while doing the work we are responsible for and that includes planning. We’ve already read about that partnership in Prov. 16:3,9

³ Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
⁹The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

There’s a similar correlation in Prov. 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Prov. 19: 21

These verses speak of the sovereignty of God while at the same time affirming the responsibility of man. We can trust God’s providence while believing that God uses our planning.

God has opportunities waiting for us to seize. Planning for those opportunities can be a great expression of our faith and trust in our Lord’s faithful providence. Let me share what I hope will be some practical and helpful thoughts on how we can plan better. If you’re already feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with the demands of life, I don’t want this to be another burden you feel you have to carry, but a helpful way to manage life a bit better. No pressure, no guilt.

1. Plan for specific goals

When we carry a vague sense of “somethings got to change” or “everything in my life is going wrong”

or “I have so much I need to get done” it can be discouraging and overwhelming. Being aware of

everything that needs to be done can paralyze us from doing anything that needs to be done.

Setting specific goals empowers us because it gives us something to aim for. It might be…

1. Get healthier
2. Be more organized
3. Get out of debt
4. Use my time more productively
5. Grow spiritually
6. Develop closer relationships

Whatever it is, be specific about what goal(s) you’d like to achieve.

2. Plan out action steps

In verse 3 it’s our plans that are established, in verse 9 it’s our steps that are established. Plans need steps or they’re just wishful thinking. Steps need plans or we’re just wandering. What are steps I can take to get out of debt? What are the steps I can take to get healthier? What steps to organize? Grow spiritually?

This is the point where overwhelming can seem manageable. I’m going to make a budget. That’s my first step to getting out of debt. I can do that. Or, I’m going to walk a mile every day, or eat more fruit and less desserts (I’ve been trying to do this recently).

3. Prioritize your time and resources

What we prioritize makes a statement about what’s important to us. In the same way a budget helps us to prioritize our money, planning helps us to prioritize our time. I think on paper most Christians would name God as their first priority, family second, and maybe job as third or fourth. But in the heat of the moment it’s easy to give our time and energy to the things that demand our time the loudest. Over time that can become a pattern, and if it goes on long enough we will very likely look back with regret that the people and goals most important to us got the leftovers.

Time-wasters is another thing to watch out for. I’m not one to spend a lot of time on FB, but some months ago there was a post on some unknown trivia about the Beatles and I read it, and now I get several posts a day about the Beatles. How they got the guitar sound on Revolution, how John and Paul collaborated on song-writing, when they decided to stop doing tours. And they suck me in…and before I know it I’ve wasted 10-15 minutes. Time wasters may only claim a few minutes, but they add up quickly if we’re not careful!

Good planning can help us reclaim our time for our priorities, not someone else’s priorities and not for things that don’t move the ball forward in our lives. Planning helps us see and seize the opportunities God puts before us and that can be tremendously enriching to our lives and help us be a blessing to

others.

As we conclude, the most important thing in these verses aren’t the plans, it’s the Lord. And the sense that when we commit what we are doing to Him, our heavenly Father comes alongside us to establish our steps. My steps. Your steps. You may take baby steps in planning, but they’re your steps and your Father will be helping you and cheering you on.