...but the Lord determines his steps

Proverbs 16:9 is one of my favorite verses, in fact I usually come to this verse when something is going wrong in my life or when something didn't go as planned. The verse reads; In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

One week ago, I received news from the company that I work for, that because of steep economic decline due to Covid-19. that the company had to make some tough decisions. One of those decisions was to do away with my position in the company that I had held for the last four years. Not only myself was being terminated but my team of 35 people. This was not in the plan! I could complain about their projections, or rationalize the decision. Perhaps I didn't see it coming, but the Lord was not thrown off guard.

Proverbs 16 deals primarily with the sovereignty of God. Nothing surprises him. When you read Proverbs 16 you get a sense that Solomon understood something powerful about the Lord, specifically that he is in control of all things. Verse 3 encourages us to Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Or perhaps another way of saying it is Your plans will be established when you committed them to the Lord. Consider verse 4 The Lord has prepared everything for his purpose. Sometimes things don't go as you had planned but that doesn't mean that God doesn't have a purpose for it.

There may be a season where it looks like things are against you, and things are not working out the way they should. But even though it may seem that God is not there, he is working and superintending the process. Evil can succeed temporarily and the righteous can suffer, but in the end God turns the table. Verse 9 caps Solomon's argument of God's sovereignty by letting the reader and hearer know that you can make your plans, but it is God who will determine your steps.

I'm trusting that God will use this in between job state to further teach me dependence on him and trust that he will order my steps appropriately.