Proverbs 16:3-4 “Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established. The LORD has worked everything for his own ends— even the wicked for the day of disaster.”

Verse 3 reminds us that we need to put God first if we want to do well. His Word commands us. His Spirit directs us. We need to commit ourselves, our thoughts, and our actions to Him. Then and only then will our plans have purpose!

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.”

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.”

James 4:13-16 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, ‘If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast about your arrogant plans. All such boasting is evil.”

Verse 4 reminds us again that God is in control. He is sovereign, and even those who don’t believe ultimately serve a purpose.

Romans 9:21-24 “Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”