When All Else Fails, Consider God's Way

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.” (Pr 19:21 AV)

This proverb can be understood in several ways.  As is the case of many of the proverbs.  The devices could be a negative term.  Oft times, the word is meant as a plan for sin.  But the term is actually a neutral one.  It means a plan or purpose.  This could be as simple as a multiple-choice situation.  Like a crossroads in which one can go equally left, right, or straight ahead.  We come to an intersection and determine the best was to get to our objective.  In the end, there is probably a better way than the other options.  The preacher here is sharing the truth that we may see a whole host of options, each being relatively equal to the other, but the only way that will work is God’s way.

I am still learning my way around the city in which I now live.  We have been here for almost two years.  The streets are laid out in a very simple manner.  Almost all streets run north/south and east/west.  However, as simple as this seems to make it, there are situations when getting from point A to point B is not so simple.  Just yesterday, my wife and I were on 75^th street.  We had to get to 68^th street and head north.  Seams pretty simple.  Take a right and head east until you hit 68^th.  Then left and you are heading north.  The problem is, 68^th street is interrupted by a large industrial complex and a television networks’ office and studios.  I should have turned left and gone north on 70^th.  But I decided to go right and thought I only had a few blocks to navigate.  I was wrong.  All the way down to 60^th.  We found this out the hard way.  Stop sing after stop sign.  Left and right.  Right and left.  Finally, we navigated back to 68^th only to miss our destination by a few dozen blocks.  There were many devices for me to choose from.  They all would have worked.  But there was one way that was far better than all the others.  The problem is, we think that if it works out in the end, then the way we got there really doesn’t matter.  Two thoughts here.  First, in the above situation, we would have gotten there eventually.  But this is not always the case.  Sometimes, if we choose a certain path, we may not arrive where the LORD would have us arrive.  Second, assuming the end goal is the only thing that matters is the wrong assumption.

We use the wisdom God gives us to the best of our ability.  In doing so, we need to remember there is still only one way.  And that is God’s way.  When faced with a situation that has no good solution, there is only God’s way.  The goal is only part of the answer.  The journey to the goal is also part of God’s plan.  We need to abandon the belief there is more than one way to skin a cat.  We are speaking generally here.  There may be more than one way to stir a pot.  Clockwise or counterclockwise.  We are not disputing the simpler things of life in which the LORD has given liberty.  What the Bible speaks of here are the principles revealed in the word of God.  There is God’s way.  Which, by the way,  is only one way.  And there is our way.  Which may be variable and complex.  The prudent saint looks at all the options and seeks God’s wisdom in either choosing or asking for another option, that would be the will of God.  There is only one way.  This is God’s way.