Jun 27, 2025 Make Plans for God’s Purpose – Words of Grace Blog – June 27, 2025
All things are from God and are to be used for his purposes.
Imagine a person who sits down at the table of a friend hosting a dinner. When the host brings the meal, the guest takes it to the den to eat while watching a ball game. Is the guest not aware that the purpose of the meal is to enhance the conversation among friends? A gift has been given for a purpose, but it is instead consumed without thought of the giver.
In theology the communicable attributes of God are those characteristics of him that he “communicates”, or gives, to people. God created us in his image. When he did, he gave us some of his attributes so we can function as image-bearers in this world. We never become God. We do not possess any attribute of God completely. But God has given us some of his abilities, to some degree, so that we can reflect his glory.
The ability to make plans is one of those gifts. This gift also comes with wise instructions so we will use it well. We get that wisdom in Proverbs.
Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand”.
This proverb is not telling us that it is futile to make plans. It is not setting the plans of man against the purpose of God. This proverb is exhorting us to remember that our plans do not thwart God’s purposes and that the wisest plans are those made for his purposes. In other words, let the plans in your mind be for a future in keeping with God’s will.
Like the guest who takes the meal to the den to watch the game while the host sits at the table, we can take the ability to plan that God has given and use it in purely selfish ways, never planning to know, love, and glorify him.
Or we can receive the gift along with its purpose. Yes, we can plan our pursuit of God and his glory. The Apostle Peter encourages us to make plans to grow in personal holiness for the purpose of being effective and fruitful for Christ.
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).
The wisdom of Proverbs and of Peter is that we wisely use our ability to plan for the wise purposes of God. How are you planning for your holiness and fruitfulness in Christ this summer?
Planning with purpose will be our theme this Sunday at Grace Community Church.
I’ll take a Words of Grace break in July. If the Lord wills, I will resume them in August.
-Scott