How To Be Wise

"Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:20-21

Sometimes it takes a little humility to accept advice and instruction from someone else. We can walk through life being sure of ourselves and where we are going, but sometimes we get a little lost, and it can take quite an effort to pull over and ask for directions. In the end though, when we really need that advice, there it is. And we can choose whether or not to listen to it- and it's the wise person who embraces that advice and uses it to their advantage. Even unsolicited advice can be welcome sometimes when it shows us a path we may not have seen before. It's up to us to open our eyes and our minds and accept that instruction- whether or not we thought we needed it in the first place.

Then there's the second part of this verse. Many plans are in a man's heart. Isn't that the truth. How many plans do we make in a lifetime? I can't even begin to number the plans I've made for the future, only to have those plans changed for one reason or another. Most often that deviation results in something even better that I hadn't thought of before. Credit for that always goes to God. I figure he knows the plans that I make- not only does he know my thoughts, but often I'll be praying about those plans- telling God how I want them to go. And then he'll smile and say "I know something better..." and my plans will be set aside for a new set of plans. God always knows my heart, and he knows what will make me smile more than my original plans.

And that's why I like making plans. Because when they go through like I expect, I'm thrilled. And when they don't go through like I expect I'm even more excited because that means that God's got something great up ahead just around the bend, and I just need to be willing to receive the instruction to get me to that something great. I can't wait to see what the next bend will bring.