For today’s blog post, I’d like to share with you the one practical secret to building a rock-solid Christian life that remains firmly rooted in God’s will, no matter what!
Let’s begin with Proverbs 19:21, where we read:
There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.
(Proverbs 19:21)
What does that mean?
Well, I really like how the NLV (New Life Version) Bible puts this verse:
“There are many plans in a man’s heart,
But it is the Lord’s plan that will stand.”
(Proverbs 19:21 NLV)
What can we learn from this? How does it apply to us?
Proverbs 19:21 is a clear and Biblical illustration of the first secret to having a rock-solid Christian life.
And that secret is giving God the blueprint of your life.
In other words, surrendering our own plans–our own blueprint–in exchange for God’s eternally rock-solid plans and blueprint.
All of this reminds me of what one of my favorite Christian authors, Ellen White, wrote in her book The Desire of Ages:
“But the Son of God was surrendered to the Father’s will, and dependent upon His power. So utterly was Christ emptied of self that He made no plans for Himself. He accepted God’s plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will.”
(The Desire of Ages pg. 208)
Do we have that same attitude Jesus had in fully depending on God and His will alone?
I mean, we just saw in Proverbs 19:21 that ONLY God’s plans truly stand!
In fact, that word “stand” in Proverbs 19:21 comes from the Hebrew word quwm; it means “endure, succeed.”
So, if God’s plans for our lives as Christians are filled with true endurance and true success, what about our plans?
David’s words in Psalm 103:15 capture a thought-provoking picture of the REAL condition of us as mortal human beings and our honestly frail life plans:
“As for man, his days are like grass…”
(Psalm 103:15)
And in connection with the above verse, I’d like to also add Isaiah’s words in Isaiah chapter 40:
“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
(Isaiah 40:8)
We as human beings can easily wither away like grass.
And even our own mere human plans and pursuits can also wither away in a similar form.
But in contrast to these thought-provoking truths, John the apostle wrote:
“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
(1 John 2:17)
So, we’ve seen plenty of evidence–especially from the Bible–that our own will and plans only wither like frail grass, while God’s will and plans withstand like a solid rock.
But, how do we apply this Biblical truth to our lives practically?
Well, I’d like to highlight one practical way:
SURRENDER
As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog post, we need to give–to surrender–the blueprint of our own human life plans and goals in exchange for the rock-solid blueprint of God’s plans and goals for our lives.
The simplest way we can practically surrender our mortal, shaky life plans is to pray. We can pray something like:
Amen! Maranatha!