An Essential Qualifier

7/24/25 Bible Thought (1 Corinthians 16)

Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash

I am a planner by nature. I don’t like going through life figuring it out as I go, I like my schedule and calendar organized.

But like anyone who has ever made plans, I also recognize that sometimes things don’t go as I intended.

Unsuspected things spring up, interruptions happen, and plans change. At the end of the day, our planning doesn’t take the future into account, for it can’t. We don’t know the end from the beginning, but we can know the One who does.

In 1 Corinthians 16, amongst other things, the apostle Paul shares some travel plans. However, his plans came with an essential qualifier.

He was hoping to first go through Macedonia and visit the churches there, and then to come to Corinth and to spend some significant time with the believers there. However, he intended to remain at Ephesus at the present for the Lord had opened to him, “a wide door for effective work” (1 Cor. 16:9).

However, Paul’s plans were ultimately held in hands greater than his own. All of his plans remained in tension with the understanding that they would go through, “if the Lord permits” (1 Cor. 16:7).

Paul made his travel plans. He didn’t sit back and wait for a pillar of cloud to take him where he ought to go. Yet, he held onto his plans loosely, understanding that God might have a different plan and he was okay with that.

How about for us?

I look at my own life and wonder, “If God really is sovereign and He really has a plan for how to run things, then how come I so frequently hold onto my plans as if they’re the only way?”

I’m sure all of us would say out loud that we want God’s will to be done in our lives. We know the right answer to the question when asked, certainly.

But when the rubber meets the road, do we really hold to our planning loosely with the contention that our plans will only go through if they are likewise God’s plans?

We will such and such a thing, if and only if the Lord permits?

Paul recognized that God’s work was in God’s hands. The Lord had presently opened a door for Paul to minister in Ephesus, and Paul trusted God with his future. Do we?

Following the will of the Lord ought to be the heartbeat of every Christian, even when and especially when it contradicts our own desires or planning.

Perhaps then, we still make our plans—we just don’t hold on so tight. We trust that the God whose ways are higher than our own directs our steps, as the famous proverb goes,

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Pro. 16:9).

That verse doesn’t just look good on a coffee mug or poster in the office; it’s a reality for those who will put their trust in Him.

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