"High Seas Adventure"

Proverbs 16.1, 3, 9 NASU

“The plans of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”

“Commit your works to the Lord

And your plans will be established.”

“The mind of man plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.”

According to the Bible, I am responsible to make “plans.” I cannot rely on fate, luck, happenstance, or even the Lord to do my part for me. God did not create me to float through life like a cork on the high seas of circumstance. I am not a pinball bouncing from bumper to bumper, plunged and flipped by forces outside my control. Nor am I an abandoned ship tied to the dock and rusting away at the port of meaninglessness.

I have a role to play. I may not be the master of my destiny but I can help create it. I am obligated to make “plans” and get myself headed in the right direction. The Lord expects me to think ahead, be strategic, and set and meet goals. “The mind of man plans his way,” therefore it is wise of me to establish a savings plan for the future, create long and short-term objectives, have aspirations, prepare for retirement, and even schedule my work week. As the old souvenir plaque says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Thankfully the “Lord” retains veto power. He can (and does) make mid-course corrections. Jesus routinely alters my “plans” as he did with the apostle Paul who, after deciding to preach in Asia, was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word” there. Later, as he and his mission team “were trying to go into Bithynia,... the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” (Acts 16.6-7).

I am expected to make a plan and navigate a course. I am also required to remain flexible enough to change direction when so led by the Spirit of Christ.

“You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.”

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

Paul, Romans 8.9, 14 NLT

I am not a cork or a pinball or a dry-docked ship. I am a sturdy vessel designed for high seas adventure. I have hoisted my sails and charted my course. I have a destination in mind but I am prepared to go anywhere the wind of God’s Spirit takes me.

“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know
where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Jesus, The Gospel of John 3.8 NASU

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The photo of a cork at upper right is by Dominic whose Flickr photostream you can view at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/.