“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.”(Proverbs 19:21)

When we’re young, we plan to take the world by storm. When we’re in our middle years, we wonder how we got where we are, and we plan to take it easy one day. When we’re older, we plan to leave a legacy. Many of us spend our lives making great and glorious plans, but only a few focus on what’s really important. To do that, we need a consultant; we need “the Lord’s counsel.”

One of the marks of maturity at any age is the ability to see through the urgent to discern what’s really important. In our younger years, it seems that everything is urgent. We rush from one goal to another, seldom enjoying life along the way. Sooner or later, we learn that we shouldn’t trust ourselves or some of our friends. We need a higher authority and we turn to God for direction. We search the Scriptures and find that some of the things that seemed so important arent and some that seemed trivial are vital in God’s view. Money, prestige, power, and possessions are measuring sticks of our culture, but God shakes His head at our compulsive pursuit of these things. They aren’t wrong they just aren’t central.

First things first. If we discover God’s purposes and pursue them with our whole hearts, our plans will follow His leading. And in the end, our plans and the positive impact of a life lived for Him will stand.