Give God your Plans

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 NKJV

In a shocking story titled “Holy cow!' Boston runner shatters Vermont City Marathon course record in marathon debut” published yesterday, it was reported that Ryan Smith shattered the Vermont City Marathon course record on Sunday during his first-ever marathon.

He finished the race in Burlington with a final time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 52 seconds, beating the previous record by 1 minute and 10 seconds.

"I mean, holy cow! What? I don't know. I'm, ah, I have no words. That exceeded all my goals," Smith said after the race.

He averaged 5:11 per mile and held onto first place throughout the race, which included 1,834 competitors.

"The plan went out the window right away. I was going to wait and be patient and sit in a group. But I was excited. I ran the whole thing alone. I was, I felt good," he said…

The prize for winning is $2,400.

With that performance, Smith also qualified for the 2028 Olympic Trials in Los Angeles.

Wow, right? Based on this outcome, I bet Smith is thankful that "his" plan went out the window right away. 

And, you know, when it comes to plans, the Bible tells us that "A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." 

This means that, while it's good and natural for us to make plans, set goals, and chart our own paths, we would do well to remember that God is ultimately in control of our destiny. This, in turn, means we would do well to hold onto our plans loosely and to be willing to “throw them out the window" when we feel God leading us in a different direction.

You see, humanity often plans and prepares for future events, but in each case God directs the outcome. And, let me tell you from experience, God's plans are always better than ours even if we don't understand them at the time. 

This is a principle we can see in the life of Joseph. As a teenager, Joseph was his father’s favorite, dreaming of greatness. His life took an immediate, dark turn when his jealous brothers sold him into slavery. Just as he was building a stable life managing an Egyptian household, he was falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison for years. He spent over a decade as a slave and prisoner.

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Genesis 50:20

But then… Joseph rose to power after successfully interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, which foretold seven years of plenty followed by seven years of severe famine. For his God-given ability to do the miraculous, Joseph was named Prime Minister of Egypt, second in command only to Pharaoh.

God then used Joseph’s position in Egypt to eventually save the entire region—and his own family—from a deadly famine. This led Joseph to say to his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

Talk about God directing his steps! Joseph surely didn’t understand what God was doing at the time, but came to understand that God’s plans were much better than his!

So, no matter what you’re going through today, choose to trust in God my friend and choose to trust that His plan is much better than yours. It may take a while to see it come to pass, and it may involve hardship, but when God directs your steps, you can be sure that your response will always be “Wow!”

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that Your ways are much higher than our ways. Lord, help us to understand that the path you have for us won’t always be free from tests and trials, as these are the things that cause our faith to grow and to show the power of God in our lives. Help us to trust You at all times, especially when we don’t understand Lord. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. 

Amen.

Happy Running!