No solid footing here

You may think everything you do is right, but the Lord judges your motives. Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out. (Proverbs 16:2-3)

I have made plans, only to have them fall flat at the last moment. You have likely planned something, then been a little disappointed with the outcome, as well. The more we 'plan', the more we need to run those plans through the Holy Ghost filter. The Lord doesn't always want us to go in the direction we are headed, even when those plans seem pretty 'legit' on the surface. Sometimes he has something better for us, or safer. We need to trust him to expose any impure motives that might be directing us toward something, especially when our spiritual, emotional, or physical safety may be concerned!

It isn't enough to just ask God to bless our plans, though. This passage makes it sound a bit like we can just throw them out there, ask God to put his stamp of approval on them, and then trudge on ahead. Maybe the Amplified Bible may make it a little clearer for us: "All the ways of a man are clean and innocent in his own eyes [and he may see nothing wrong with his actions], But the Lord weighs and examines the motives and intents [of the heart and knows the truth]. Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance]." The importance of God 'weighing and examining' the motives and intents of our heart cannot be overlooked.

Submit and trust him with the work we are about to undertake. This is probably one of the most important instructions we can receive as believers. We need to submit our 'intended actions' before we even engage to perform those actions. The response of our heart is important, though. Do we resist his 'prompt' to 'disengage' when we are wanting to move ahead full steam? Do we listen when he 'prompts' us that the steps we are about to take aren't totally pure, or in keeping with his timing for our lives? If we want God's 'blessing' on what we do, we need to submit to his leading - in other words, listen and obey!

Responding to God's will and his guidance in our lives is paramount to our success in the actions we are about to take. If we skip submitting our actions to him, we are likely to make more than a few 'false steps' along the way. If you have ever stepped out and felt nothing secure under your feet, that is the feeling you get when you realize you are outside of God's timing or his will for your day. It is though there is nothing 'solid' under you and you almost feel yourself falling in 'slow motion'. God's wisdom is available, but he might want to take the time to discover it BEFORE we step out. Just sayin!