Daily Devotional For Saturday, August 23, 2025
Good morning and happy Saturday to all of you. Ever wish you had made a different decision? I think we all have that wish. Most of our decisions, we just make them based on preference, desire, feelings, experience and bias. Most of the time our decisions are self-serving, but what if we took a different approach. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it” (NASB). Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (NLT). These two passages tell us that each day belongs to the Lord and even as we make our own plans, we must be willing to change them so the Lord can determine where we go during the day.
Proverbs 16:9 sits in the context of Proverbs 16:1-2, “We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. (2) People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives” (NLT). Ever made plans and wondered why in the world you did? Nothing went the way you planned. In October 2014, we flew to Bulgaria to meet the 13-year-old girl we were going to adopt. Knowing it was going to be cold there, we packed accordingly. When we got off the plane and went to get our luggage, it was not there. We had to put in a request to find lost luggage. We went on to the hotel thinking that sometime that afternoon or night, our luggage would arrive. It did not. We did not get our luggage for 4 days. Were we ripe! We had to keep washing out our clothes we had so we could keep wearing them.
While it was an inconvenience, it was not the end of the world. We knew we were there for the Lord to meet the daughter He had planned for us to adopt. It has become a funny story we love to tell. Yet, on a more serious note, that incident I believe was orchestrated by God for others to see how we would handle it. We could have become angry, had a meltdown, threatened, but we just adapted and moved on during the week. As each day passed with no luggage we were resigned that we may never get our luggage with our clothes in it.
These verses in Proverbs remind us of the sovereignty of God, personal choice and wisdom. James says this in James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (NLT). Why does God not rebuke us for asking for wisdom from Him? Because it reveals humility and dependence on Him.
Old Testament scholar Graeme Goldsbury writes this: “Wisdom is especially mindful of the task we have to think through issues, make decisions and then bear the responsibility for the outcome. This proverb reminds us that we must make well-considered plans while all the time God is in control of all that happens. from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue. This means either that God enables us to give the appropriate answer or carry through our plans, or that God’s answer from his word is the real power that shapes events” (Source: Graeme Goldsbury, Proverbs: Tree of Life, p. 103).
This means that due to God’s sovereignty, God has considered evil. That is the point of Proverbs 16:4, “The Lord makes everything go as He pleases. He has even prepared a day of disaster for evil people” (NCV). This is why we must humble ourselves and depend on God for wisdom, because we do not have a clue what is coming each day we wake up. Think of 911, all those people who boarded those planes had no idea that they were all going to die. These Proverbs make it clear that there is a limit to human understanding when it comes to our motives. Many times I do not understand or know my own motives, so how in the world do I think I can figure other’s motives? But nothing is hidden from God. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable” (NLT). Psalm 44:21 says, “For God knows the secrets of the heart” (NASB). Because nothing is hidden from God, we in humility should ask Him for His wisdom in our day to day plans.
Psalm 127:1-2 says, “Unless the Lord builds a house,the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. (2) It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to His loved ones” (NLT). The point of these verses in Psalm 127 is to stress that unless we ask the Lord for wisdom in our plans and His plans for us, we are wasting our time and efforts.
Assignment: How often do you ask the Lord for wisdom in your plans and for His plans for you? Do you just go make plans and leave the Lord out of them? Do you really think it is right to ask the Lord to bless your plans when you leave Him out of them by asking Him for wisdom for them? If this is the day the Lord has made – meaning not your or me – then the best way to rejoice in it is by asking the Lord for wisdom. What do you need to ask the Lord for wisdom for today? If you haven’t, ask Him.
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. (7) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I need wisdom in this area _________________________. Please give it to me so that I can bring Your glory. I want to trust You, not myself. I want my paths straight because of Your wisdom, not because of my manipulation. Thank You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly