What does it mean by, "Man plans his ways while God directs his steps"?
Proverbs 16:9
ESV - 9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
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Asked June 27 2015
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Patricia Corominas
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Tim Maas
In my opinion, this verse is saying that, although a person can make a plan of action that he intends to follow in order to achieve a desired objective, it is ultimately God who controls the implementation of that plan, and who determines the plan's outcome through the ordering of both the planner's actions, as well as events over which even the person's plan can have no influence or control. This verse also implies that God is able to use the actions not only of people who, in the planning of those actions, seek to do God's will, but also of people who do not seek to do God's will (or who even actively oppose God), for the accomplishment of God's ultimate purposes.
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