Gods Purposes, and Mans Devices

If we look closely into that portion of Abrahams history which has

lately engaged our attention, we shall find much matter for
profitable thought therein.
It is among the sayings of the wisest of menThere are many
devices in a mans heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord,
that shall stand. (Pro_19:21.) Not only Scripture history, but the
history of the world, is full of evidences of this serious and
important truth: it is written as with a sunbeam throughout creation
and in the whole state of man. Yet there is scarcely any truth
which we so habitually forget or overlook. It is well, therefore, that
we should suffer our minds to dwell upon every circumstance in
our experience or our reading, and especially in our reading of
Gods Word, which may serve to impress so great a fact in mans
historyso great a fact in the history of every one of usas this,
upon our remembrance. We have had before us a circumstance
of this characterfor it seems that Abraham, acting without
sufficient reference to the will of God, which he might have
ascertained, marks out for himself what must have seemed a very
sagacious and politic course of proceeding; but this course of
conduct not only does not produce the effect he contemplated
and desired, but is in all respects attended by the very results
which be most dreaded and labored to avert. Nothing of all that
had been devised remained unshaken, save the counsel of God.
Thus, in the first place, by leaving the land of Cancan for Egypt,
the patriarch expected that he might abide there in tranquillity until
the period of the famine had passed away. But the result was far
otherwise. He was compelled to quit Egypt after a very short stay,
and to return to the famine-stricken land, where Godwhose eye
is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in his mercy, to
deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine
(Psa_33:18-19)sustained him and his numerous family in ease
and plenty.
Again, the evil which Abraham apprehended with respect to
Sarah, did indeed happenbut it was brought about by the very
means he had taken to avert it; and there is every reason to
suppose that, had he from the first boldly declared that she was
his wife, relying upon the protection of God, nothing of the kind
would have taken place; as it was, this very device of passing her
off for his sister, which was designed to secure his safe sojourn
amid the plenty of Egypt, became the very instrument of
compelling his return to the dearth of Canaan.
Now, let us not whisper to our own hearts that we are, in this at
least, wiser than Abraham. Alas, it is not so. There are few of us
whose wisest things are wiser than the foolishness of Abraham.
Do we not every day speculate with confidence upon the results
of this or that undertaking or course of action? Do we not every
day calculate, with little misgiving, that this or that course of
proceeding towards another, or with reference to particular
circumstances, can hardly fail to produce the effect we have in
view? But does it? Seldom more so than in the case of Abraham.
There are few, if any, whose course of action in any particular
matter has produced the effect they had in view, or has yielded all
the fruit they expected to gather from it. There are few, if any,
whose prosperity, whose comfort, whose safety, has grown out of
their own carefully planned and deliberated measures; few, if any,
who do not know that their advantages have proceeded from
circumstances which they never had in view, which formed no
part of their own plans, and over which their own course of action
had no conceivable influence. Many of us may have been
enabled to do something wiser, greater, better, than ever entered
our mindbut this has not only often been without the consent of
our own judgment, but upon strong compulsion and contrary to
the tendencies of our will.
What shall we say to these things? There is nothing better than
that a man should live in the feeling that it is not to be his
purpose, but the purpose of God, that must stand sure. He may
have plans and designsindeed the business of life cannot well
go on without them; but he must know that God is not bound by
his plans, and is under no obligation to bestow His prospering
blessing upon them. God has a plan of his own for every one of
us. If our plans agree with his, wellHe may bless them; but if
not, He will either make them promote the purpose which He
intends, and which we did not intend, or will try our faith by
blasting our beloved plans altogetherthat He may bless us in
his own way, and lead us to safety, to usefulness, to blessedness,
by paths that we know not of, and by ways that never did enter or
could enter our minds. Let us not, therefore, be discouraged, if
our plans do not answer to our mindsif everything turns wrong
upon our hands. We know that He is not unkind; we know that He
does not forget us; and we have reason to hope that He only
brings our own small plans and devices to naught because He
has something of his ownsomething largersomething far
betterin store for us. How many are they to whom God has not
spoken comfortably, until He lured them into the wilderness,
where the soul, withdrawn from amid the ruins of its broken plans
and frustrated hopes, is alone with Him, sees Him alone, leans on
Him only.
Oh, for the blessedness of that man who has been enabled to
realize the most entire convictionand that not as a theory but as
a practical truththat God doeth all things well, and that His work
is perfect! The grinding and low cares of this life, have no place
with him. He knows that all his affairs are guided by One who
cannot errthat he is watched over for good by One who is never
weary. Human friends may weary of him, and shake him off, if he
becomes troublesome by his wants; but he heeds it littlehis God
invites, solicits, is gratified by the entireness of his dependence,
and by the full and undivided burden of his cares. Strange it is
that we are so slow to claim the rights thus given to us, and which
we ought to regard as inestimable privileges. Yet how few are
they, known to any of us, who do truly realize the many precious
promises and gracious invitations to do that which can alone
make this life tolerable. How few are they who realize
experimentally the declaration of the prophet: O Lord, I know that
the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to
direct his steps. Note: Jer_10:23. Or this: Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the
city, the watchmen waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up
early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He giveth
his beloved sleep. Note: Psa_127:1-2.
May God give to us that sleepthat perfect rest amid all the
labors, turmoils, and cares of life, which only his beloved can
know, because they only have unreserved confidence in Him, and
can trust their bodies no less than their souls to his care.