Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)—The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Standing on top of an observation deck overlooking the wetlands on Fort George Island, I spied a roseate spoonbill. My second sighting ever of this beautiful bird. Though my feathered friend sat far away, I lifted my camera, zoomed in, focused manually, and snapped away happily.
Then the spoonbill took flight.
In haste, I zipped the camera in its direction and snapped with haphazard grace, not changing a single setting to meet the demands of the photo. My hands snapped into motion before my mind did.
Later, while examining the photo, I zoomed in on the spoonbill. Nothing but a blur—distinctly a flying bird, but with a lack of detail that I could’ve captured if I’d slowed down and changed a few camera settings.
The same is true for the plans of man. We plan to our heart’s content and snap into action to satisfy our desires, and we later realize our settings were not set to God’s. The details are a blur that could’ve been avoided if we’d obeyed.
Fortunately, God cares about our heart’s desires. Proverbs 16:3 entreats us to commit all we do to the Lord. When we do this, we can trust our next steps will come into crisp, clear focus in God’s timing.
Truly, our plan begins with connecting our lens of faith to God’s camera body and continues with obeying. With God, our ideas take flight in every step from concept to final result.