“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)

Yesterday’s nugget was on pausing our own action and seeking the Lord. Today, in Proverbs 19:21, we consider the differences between human plans and our divine calling. In engineering, there is a concept called the natural or resting state of a system. It is the position a system will always return to after being stimulated in some way. The easiest way to picture this is to consider a small weight hanging on a spring. The weight pulls and elongates the spring, but only so much, based on the spring material and the size of the weight. It turns out (to some extent) that no matter how you shake or jostle the spring, the relationship between the weight and spring will return to the same position as it was before you shook it. And we call this the natural response. It is the “home” state of the system. Today’s verse infers that we too have a “home” state. We may be pushed and pulled in different directions, but deep within our soul there is a tugging back to God’s path for us. God wants us to return to our natural position; a position chosen by Him. Who else could know what is right for us? Who else could respond with the purest form of love for us? God created each of us with gifts and a unique purpose. “A purpose that prevails.” Now the irony of me writing this nugget is not lost as I still struggle to match my own skills to what really satisfies me. So, I’ll just have to take this verse to prayer, as we encourage all to do, and trust that God’s calling (our natural response) will be revealed. There are so many options for each of us to expand God’s kingdom. But while the human plans are many, “the Lord’s calling and His purpose will prevail.”