This verse is posted on the wall of my office. I see it five days a week. I see it so often that I disregard it. Well, until this week that is.

After a meeting, I looked, just stared at it, and read it to myself... a few times. Then, it hit me. I don't know if it was because I was emotionally struggling or because I was just deep in thought, or it may very well be a combination of both. But it hit me with a tidal wave of "Ohhhh, I get it."

You can plan. You can be organized. You can have a timeline for life. This is not a bad thing. You can dreams and visions. What you want to do in life. Who you want to be. Where you want to go. Having the "want" in your heart to do or be all these things is okay. It's what us, humans, are wired to do.
BUT. Yep, that's in there. There's always, a "but" right? In this case though, it's a good thing. God established the steps you make. He sets you up. Or as people usually say, he opens that door... or closes it.

What I got from it? God has you. Even if it's not going the way you planned, He has you. He's got you covered because he actually knows what is best for you.

When I came to this realization, it actually gave me a lot of peace. (Which I'll have to tap into every now and then.) But it truly did.

A few days later, I remembered how my pastors and spiritual mentors encourage me to always not only look at the verse, but look at the verse in its context. So I did.

Proverbs 16 is 33 verses long, with a LOT of great content, and intense ones at that. (Well, the whole bible does, but you know what I mean.) I rewound and started at the first verse to get the "context" for my verse.

The beginning of the chapter talks about how your intentions are your own, but that's why it always seems right, but it's not always actually right. They just seem like it's right because they're your ideas. They're your own opinions. Kinda like when you do something you thought was nice, but then it ends up being something not-so-great, and they say "well, it's the thought that counts!" or "your heart was in the right place!" Kinda like that. So it's saying... that even though I have the perfect, fool-proof plan for my life, God knows better. Because what I know to be perfect is defined by me... and not by God.

Now, the goal is to actually commit your plans to God and to trust in Him. Well That's what I got from verse three. Now what people misconstrue from verses like that is that they think "just tell God what you want and all of it will come to pass!" Hahahaha... no. You can't paint God to be a genie with infinite wishes. It doesn't work like that.


God is a just God, but it never says it'll be cake! But even if it isn't cake, going back to what I first learned... He has you. He has me. So trust Him. With everything. In everything.

Easier to say, harder to do, I know. It may be a daily struggle, but making a conscious choice to do so is a start. And the moment you wake up, that's a very good place to start.

-Gardenia Rose