The Way

At first blush, Proverbs 16 may look like a mix-mash of wise sayings, but there is a theme threaded throughout: 

"To man belong the plans of the heart, but from The Lord comes the reply of the tongue" (v. 1); 

"Commit to The Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" (v. 3); 

"The Lord works out everything for his own ends" (v. 4); 

"In his heart a man plans his course, but The Lord determines his steps" (v. 9).

Do you get the sense that man is in charge of his input but God is in control of the outcomes?  That is why "Pride goes before destruction" (v. 18) but "blessed is he who trusts in The Lord" (v. 20). 

Here's the thing: we get to choose our steps, but if we do not go with God, we will be left behind.  God will not change the course of redemptive history for you or me. We may be convinced that our way is better than His revealed will in Scripture, however the truth is, "there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (25).  

Jesus put it like this, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). 

So, there is only one way home, the path laid by the Father, lived by the Son and led by the Spirit.  We need to expend our energy uncovering it in the Bible rather than mining our own thoughts for a way we want to go.  Jus' Sayn.