WISDOM IN OUR HEARTS (5)

“A man’s HEART plans his WAY, but the Lord directs his STEPS” – Proverbs 16:9

Discerning the right ways and taking the rights steps in life depend on God’s WISDOM in OUR HEARTS: “A man’s HEART plans his WAY, but the Lord directs his STEPS” (v.9). Wisdom deals with thoughts, ways and steps. To be wise-hearted is to lay hold on God’s higher thoughts and higher ways in life: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are MY WAYS higher than YOUR WAYS, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa.55:9). God’s Word contains His higher thoughts which lead to His higher ways. Wisdom is all about applying His Word to produce profits in any given area of life: “Wisdom is profitable to direct…” (Eccl.10:10b).

Our lives are designed to go in the direction of our hearts: “For as he thinks in his HEART, so is he” (Pro.23:7a). The Wisdom to follow God’s Ways starts from the heart: “Hear, my son, and BE WISE; and guide your HEART in the WAY” (Pro.23:19). This Wisdom of God in our hearts enables us to PLAN our ways to align with His ways of doing things – His approach, methods, styles, or strategies: “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (v.7).  

God did not create human beings as robots. He gave us Intelligence, including the ability to set goals and plan the means to achieve them. Irrational creatures such as some lower animals cannot do this; they only react by instincts to stimulus. However, the Creator sovereignly oversees the details of all our actions, so that we are dependent on Him, either for positive favourable outcomes of our good plans, or the turning upside down and disruption of any evil plan. That is: Man proposes; God disposes! Man freely devises; God powerfully directs: “There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the LORD’s counsel – that will stand” (Pro.19:21).

GOD is the LORD! Our lives and plans are in His hands. He simply asks us to submit to His Will; then, His Wisdom directs our steps! Man creatively plans; God masterfully dictates ways and directs steps. Man may act as he pleases; God is pleased by how He uses man’s actions. Many people are wandering through life, wishing they knew God’s Will for them. Yet, His Will is often not a mystery. He says: “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established” (vv.2-3). Psalm 37: 4-5 say: “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass…”

God is not against us devising ways to achieve our desired objectives. He simply wants us to commit our endeavours, plans, and works to Him, believing that He will take care of the details: “The STEPS of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way” (Psa.37:23). God gave us a heart; we can have affections, desires, and preferences. He gave us a mind; we can think of how we might achieve our goals. Once we commit all of these to God and follow the rules of Scriptural Wisdom, we are good to go! This demands that we give priority to the Word of God (Jos.1:8). It is in doing all that the Word commands that we can enjoy the benefits they promise to deliver. Doing God’s Word is the bedrock that determines the direction, details, and destination of our lives.

Believers in Christ are called to have a HEART for GOD’S WAYS: “My son, give Me YOUR HEART, and let your eyes observe MY WAYS” (Pro.23:26). Such a heart cherishes and seeks to understand, align with and walk in God’s Ways. The wise-hearted person, though principled, is not set in his ideas or ways, as to find it hard to accept God’s Ways. The Lord is saying: “Son (or daughter), give me your heart. Let my Wisdom work in and through you”!