Psalm 33:10-11 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

This passage is a vital reminder to any believer these days, if they are to have any peace of mind. Various nations and people-groups are stirring things up these days, and it’s easy to get caught up in assorted “what if” scenarios. We need to remember this truth from both sides. Not only will those nations that plot against us not succeed (if we are following the Lord), we will not succeed unless we are following the Lord. The Bible speaks many times of man’s plans versus God’s plans, and there’s never any real contest. Not only do God’s plans succeed, as this passage says, His plans are simply better in every way. Sometimes from our perspective we can’t see that. The Lord told Isaiah that was because they were on a different plane altogether. (Isaiah 55:9) Right now we tend to get stirred up because of the plans of North Korea, Iran, and the Islamic State. The Islamic State is about to lose the last of its geographic territory, but diffuse terrorism is still very much an issue. Iran is on the road to nuclear weapons and North Korea already has them, and they have rapidly been developing missiles to deliver them. Such plans are naturally concerning, but we must remember that God is still God, and this passage is true for eternity. Our focus needs to be on getting our plans in line with God’s, not trying to get Him on board with whatever we cook up. Only then can we have any long-term success.

This is an extremely important point for us to remember, as we are in the beginning of a major project. I have full assurance that the project is God’s idea, but as the secular proverb says, “The devil is in the details.” I must not assume that because the plan as a whole is His idea that however we go about it will be blessed. We need to seek Him at every juncture, asking Him to guide our minds by His Spirit, and by circumstances. Already to this point things have not gone as we had imagined, but He is in control. We must not presume, but walk in diligent humility. This project is worthy of our best effort, but our best effort is worthless if it’s not in line with God’s plans. He will give us the wisdom and strength and resources we need for each step, but we must remember those come from Him and not from us. If we will do that, the outcome is indeed guaranteed, even if it’s not the outcome we had originally imagined. It will be better!

Father, thank You for this reminder especially as we are leading up to a church business meeting this Sunday. I pray that we would have very good attendance and that people would participate fully. I pray that we would all seek You, and that everyone in the church would own the project as their own, in obedience to You. May we grow in all areas as we follow through in faith and obedience, for Your kingdom and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!