Bottom line up front: Our plans are never so wise as we fancy them; the Lord’s plans are best, and if we are wise, we will follow them.

Example: Tonight I was in one of my favorite passages of Scripture, Genesis 24. It’s the story of Isaac and Rebekah. But it is much more than a love story. It is the story of the providence and faithfulness of God to those who trust him. Here’s what I mean.

Abraham had been a man called out of Ur (present-day Iraq) to believe the only true and living God, and Abraham believed God, and God counted his faith in the word of God as righteousness: “And he [Abram] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6, ESV). In short, justification came to Abram as it does to all–by grace alone, through faith alone, in God alone.

Abraham’s wife (Sarah) died later on, and Abraham (believing the covenantal promises of God) wanted the Lord to provide a wife for his son, Isaac. So Abraham sends his servant to discover the right woman for Isaac, back to Abraham’s home territory to find the right woman the Lord will provide. And the unfolding events are beautiful. Just let sink in the depth of the words of Abraham’s servant as he seeks to honor his master and the God of Abraham:

¹⁴ Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” ¹⁸ She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. (Gen 24:14-20, ESV)

Knowing that God was keeping his covenantal promise, verse 27 of Genesis 24 is absolutely beautiful: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

Encouragement/takeaway: We often have many plans in our heart/core, but it’s the Lord who is sovereign. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Pr 16:33, ESV). That should be the Christian’s great conviction and comfort. The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves.