Have you ever noticed how stubborn we can be? We sketch out our five-year plan, knowing exactly how life should unfold… and even though, deep down, we know that our plans don’t always play out the way we think they should, we still find it maddening when things just don’t go our way.

Take Steve Jobs. At thirty he was fired from Apple, the very company he’d founded. By all accounts, it was a humiliating experience. But years later, he admitted that being fired freed him to think more creatively. That setback led to Pixar, and eventually his return to Apple – where he reshaped the world of technology.

What appeared to be the end of a promising career turned out to be an essential stepping stone to success.

Proverbs 19:20-21 Listen to advice and accept discipline; then you, too, will become wise. People might make many plans, but what the LORD says is what will happen.

That cuts straight to the heart, doesn’t it? Wisdom means admitting we don’t know it all. It means being humble enough to listen – to God’s Word, to godly counsel, even to the discipline that stings.

Because in the end, our clever strategies and carefully laid plans aren’t what determine the outcome. God’s purposes stand. Always.

And in Christ, we see that truth in the flesh. Men planned His downfall. Judas betrayed Him. The leaders schemed against Him. And yet through the cross and resurrection, God’s greater plan – our salvation – triumphed.

So yes, plan wisely. But hold your plans loosely. Because in the end, the only plan that matters is God’s … and that plan is Jesus.

That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.