I shared some thoughts recently based on Jeremiah 29 about the plans that we make in our lives. Will our plans work out like we want them to? What about God’s plans? I decided to dig into God’s Word to find more of what He has to say about plans.

Psalm 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

God has things planned for us – good things. More than we will ever know. But if we were to talk about the ones we know about, it would be a very long conversation.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

Psalm 20:4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

Proverbs 16:1-3 To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Did you notice how plans and the heart are tied together in these verses? Man plans for things that are close to his heart. God makes plans for us according to His heart, from His awesome love for us. Which plans are going to be better: the ones from your heart or the ones from God’s?

Proverbs 14:22 Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

Plan what is good – what is in keeping with God’s will. We need to come around to God’s way of thinking.

Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Proverbs 20:18 Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance.

Whom do you consult when making plans? Where does your advice come from? Where should it come from?

Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

A plan that has sought God’s guidance and blessing will accomplish His purposes.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Planning is good, but you need to put your plans into action now. Time will run out for us to accomplish the plans God has for us here on earth. We need to be about our Father’s business.

Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world… It may seem like our enemies are winning, but we’ve got God on our side.

Hebrews 11:40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 11 is know as the “Faith chapter” of the Bible. At the  conclusion of listing the heroes/examples of faith, we are told none of them received what had been promised. The “something better” God had planned was the righteousness accomplished by Jesus for all people. We are made perfect in His sight in the same way those “heroes’ were: through faith!

God’s plan is for you to believe in Jesus and receive what He earned for you. God’s primary plan for you and everyone is to be forgiven. This happens only by His grace when you put your faith in Jesus as your Savior. Then you will receive all the good things that God has planned for you.

1 Corinthians 2:9–10 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.