“Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?”
“For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?”
“‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”
“I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”
“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ”
Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
Job 12:13 “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
Proverbs 8:14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
Isaiah 5:19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”
Isaiah 28:29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Sometimes we get lost in our uncertainty, worry, confusion, and troubles. We seek God’s plan but are not good about waiting, or listening, or trusting His timing. We pray for His revelation of His plan and purpose. We even give Him ideas about what would be best for our lives. Yes we pray for Him to lead us down a path and most of the time according to our thoughts of what is best for us, not realizing we are not seeking His plan and purpose but our own.
Seek God first. Praise Him first. Worship Him first. Honor Him First. Obey Him first. Trust in Him first. With our eyes focused on Him we soon lose sight of our plans and see His so much clearer.
This was shared with me today: The Bible says, ‘The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right’ (Psalm 84:11). Sometimes we pray for a certain thing, believing it’s good for us. But God, who has a plan for your life, knows what would be ‘good’ and what wouldn’t be. Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth, said if God had answered all her prayers when she was young, she’d have married the wrong man – several times. Two teardrops were floating down the river of life. One asked the other, ‘Who are you?’ The second replied, ‘I’m the teardrop from the girl who loved a man and lost him. Who are you?’ The first teardrop replied, ‘I am the teardrop of the girl who got him.’ That’s the way life goes, isn’t it? We cry over what we don’t have, not realizing we might have cried twice as hard if God had given it to us. The expression ‘walking by faith’ means trusting the plan God has already worked out, and will reveal to you on a need-to-know basis. Paul said, ‘I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content’ (Philippians 4:11). Clearly his contentment didn’t come from his surroundings, since he spent all but seven years of his ministry in prison. So, where did it come from? The knowledge that God ‘makes everything work out according to his plan’. Does that mean Paul understood every detail of God’s plan? No, but when he didn’t understand the plan, he trusted the Planner! And that’s where Paul’s peace, joy, and contentment came from. The same goes for you.