Bible. Old Testament

Where did the expression come from: “Man proposes, but God disposes”?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

The source of this expression is the Holy Scripture. In the Book of Proverbs it is written: “Many are the plans in the heart of man, but only what the Lord has determined will come to pass” (Proverbs 19:21). In the formulation given in the question, the saying is first found in the book “The Imitation of Christ,” the author of which most researchers consider Thomas a à Kempis (c. 1380 - 1471): “The righteous in their intention are established more on the grace of God than on their own wisdom; and they place their trust in God, no matter what they undertake, for man proposes, but God disposes, and his way is not in man (Jer. 10:23).” (Book 1. Chapter XIX: On the exercise of a good monk). This book was written in Latin. In Latin the saying goes like this: Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit.

This saying indicates the Providence of God in relation to each person. Human plans, even the most well-thought-out ones, are imperfect and changeable. God always works for the good of everyone.

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There are many plans in the human heart, but only those determined by the Lord will take place.

Svetlana

My friends call me Svitlochka. I am a missionary from Ukraine in the Russian Far East, a radio journalist. The Lord has given me many blessings in ministry, working on Christian radio, evangelizing children in orphanages, holding Christian camps...

But I needed good Christian fellowship, and I found it here, I found good friends.

It so happened that when the borders opened, many Christians dispersed to different countries and cities. But the Lord has provided for us to continue friendly communication on the Internet, and I am grateful to everyone who created and works on the Invictory portal. I still have not met that person whom the Lord created just for me, my friend in life, I continue to pray for him, but I have met many good, very good friends here. And I want to tell those who are looking for friends and good relationships in the family of our Heavenly Father, you will find them. Only the Lord has his own time and place for each of us. Don't lose hope and look to what the Lord wants to say or do through this communication.

1–15. Parables of various contents about wealth and poverty, prudence and stupidity, etc. 16–29. Parables related in content to charity, education, etc.

. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a [rich] man with lying lips and a fool at that.

. It is not good for a soul without knowledge, and those who are in a hurry will stumble.

. Man's stupidity perverts his path, and his heart is indignant at the Lord.

. Wealth brings many friends, but the poor man remains his friend.

. A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever tells a lie will not be saved.

. Many curry favor with nobles, and everyone is a friend to the person who gives gifts.

. The poor man is hated by all his brothers, and even more so his friends move away from him: he chases after them to talk, but that doesn’t happen either.

. He who gains understanding loves his soul; whoever observes prudence finds good.

. A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever tells a lie will perish.

. Splendor is indecent for a fool, much less for a slave to have dominion over princes.

. Prudence makes a man slow to anger, and it is his glory to be lenient towards wrongdoing.

. The king's anger is like the roar of a lion, and his favor is like dew on the grass.

. A foolish son is his father's ruin, and a contentious wife is a waste pipe.

. House and property are an inheritance from parents, and a reasonable wife is from the Lord.

. Laziness makes you drowsy, and a careless soul will suffer hunger.

Art. 1 is repeated almost verbatim in - with the difference that in this last place in the second half of the verse there is the word “rich” - ashir, not “stupid” – kesil, like here. Only the reading corresponds to the context of the speech, which is why the reading of a given passage should be corrected accordingly, as they do in LXX, Vulg., slav. 2–3 tbsp. highlight the idea that well-being is possible for a person only with prudence and prudence. Art. 4, 6–7 note the always and everywhere present phenomenon of everyday experience - the fact of the universal admiration of people for wealth and the rich and disdain for the poor (fn.). Art. 5 contains an interpolated thought about the crime of perjury (cf.); about the same thing - and Art. 9. Art. 10 refers to the frequent cases in the ancient and modern East of the instant elevation of a slave to the position of ruler; The Wise One condemns such a phenomenon not in itself, but insofar as physical slavery can easily be combined with slavery of the spirit, in particular with stupidity; The idea is that for the possession of goods - wealth, power and the like - there must be preparation in the form of education. Art. 11–15 contain a number of empirical observations from the areas of private, public and political life.

. He who keeps the commandment preserves his soul, but he who is heedless of his ways will perish.

. He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for his good deed.

. Punish your son while there is hope, and do not be indignant at his cry.

. Let the angry one suffer punishment, because if you spare him, you will have to punish him even more.

. Listen to advice and accept reproof, so that you may later become wise.

. There are many plans in the human heart, but only those determined by the Lord will take place.

. A man's joy is his charity, and a poor man is better than a deceitful one.

. The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it will always be content, and evil will not befall him.

. The lazy person puts his hand into the cup and does not want to bring it to his mouth.

. If you punish a blasphemer, then the simple will become prudent; and if you rebuke a wise man, he will understand the instruction.

. He who ruins his father and drives out his mother is a shameful and dishonest son.

. Stop, my son, listening to suggestions about evading the sayings of reason.

. The wicked witness mocks the court, and the lips of the wicked swallow lies.

. Judgments are ready for those who blaspheme, and beatings on the body of fools.

At the head of all rules is the keeping of the commandments of the law (of Moses), in which, according to the legislator himself (), which the Wise One often speaks of in other places (). According to the spirit of antiquity and the Old Testament, in the system of education the Wise One allowed corporal punishment, but He warns parents against extremes and abuses in this regard (v. 18) - the Apostle does this in a similar way (); the more persistent the admonition to the children in charge (v. 20). Art. 21 turns the thought of a person striving to improve his life by all measures and means, to the one Lord of the world and life - God: human plans, the most thoughtful, are characterized by variability and instability; immutable, unchangeable is only the command of God (cf.), by which He controls everything (cf.). Art. 22 depicts the inner side of charity - the feeling of the benefactor’s sincere affection for the poor, while above (v. 17) only remuneration for charity was spoken of. Art. 23 once again represents a reminder of the main (in the Old Testament) virtue - the fear of God and its salvation for man (cf.). Art. 24 is almost literally repeated below in (cf.) and refers to the custom of the East - not to use forks and knives when eating. The final verses (25–29) speak of listeners who are morally incapable of receiving the teaching of wisdom and contain a warning against being carried away by their examples (v. 27).

If we trust only our heart in everything, then it can lead us towards spiritual fornication and deception. Why? Because man’s heart is deceitful and completely depraved, only after going through refinement and the fire of sanctification will we be able to see truly, and without embellishing the situation.

Jeremiah 18:13
“Each of us intends to do what his evil and stubborn heart wants”...

Not all dreams are from God, not every guidance, and not every experience. When we follow the path of the cross, only then will we approach the narrow and true path. On this path we learn to reject our will and choose Him... Sometimes it costs us considerable effort, sometimes we become a victim, since God wants us to be ready to suffer for His righteousness...

This is the path, and therefore not everyone will want to follow the path, but only those who have responded to the call of the Lord - “take up your cross and follow Me”...

But we often dream a lot about ourselves. Not all desires that are born in our hearts are born of His Spirit. Our desires and requests are sanctified by the fire of the Holy Spirit and much is burned, like hay and straw in this fire...

James 4:2,3
“2...You don't get what you want because you don't ask God.
3 But when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask from unrighteous motives, only in order to take advantage of everything you receive for your own pleasure ... "

This is the main reason - they left the path of the cross, because of this there is so much murmuring and they cannot enter into His rest...

Being led by the Spirit has nothing to do with the desires and promptings of lust. These desires must remain on the cross, but when we are overcome by them, then this is, strictly speaking, a fall...

Therefore, if we run after these desires, we will stumble. That is why the Pharisees stumbled over the Rock, which is Christ. He did not fulfill their expectations, and they became hardened in their hearts...

We don't need to have expectations, we need to have faith and trust in God. What comes from Him brings peace and joy to hearts. But joy is not carnal enthusiasm. Often we become inflamed with carnal desires and fall again. No, this is not that kind of joy, but rather one that brings peace to our hearts...

Also dreams and some visions. What do they bring to the heart? You need to check the Source. We learn everything.

Eccles.5:7
“Let not dreams, all sorts of uselessness and verbosity prevent you from honoring God”...

Many dreams only hide the true God. Not all. In the end, Joseph’s dream was from God, but probably in his heart he still had many dreams of his own, and God led Joseph to the places of smelting. We should not add anything to what God has said. This is meekness. Moses went in his own strength to save Israel, and we know how that ended. Then he became the meekest in the desert.

Prophetic experiences are sometimes similar to creative dreams, but only in imagery, because the prophets were sensitive, and sometimes recorded their experiences in the form of songs and psalms. But God also cleansed their lips, like the lips of the prophet Isaiah.

So, the grain must be separated from the chaff. He who speaks the word from God must not add anything of his own. Visions are still chaff, just like dreams…. They need to be checked, compared with scripture, because there may be a lot more added by man.

Ecl.5:3
“Great worries lead to bad dreams, and stupid people always have more words than they need”...

The Fire of the Holy Spirit will cleanse us all from this husk...

Many people believe that a person himself determines his future and his path. Many argue that this is a matter of pure rationalism, according to which life is like a calculator: you receive data, make the necessary calculations and have a result. It is obvious that such a mechanistic view of life ignores the Creator and Master of life, who is the One who always has the last word. As it is written in the book of Job:

Job 23:13
“But He is steadfast; and who will reject Him? He does what His soul wants.”

And in the book of Proverbs we read the following:

Proverbs 16:1
“Man [belongs] to the assumptions of the heart, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”

Proverbs 16:2
“All a man's ways are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs souls.”

Proverbs 19:21
“There are many plans in the heart of man, but only what is determined by the Lord will take place.”

Proverbs 16:9
“The heart of man ponders its path, but the Lord controls his procession.”

There may sometimes be many roads open to us. We may sometimes have many questions. But what does the Word of God say? That the Lord, despite our questions, knows how to guide us. Five times in the above passages from the book of Proverbs the idea is repeated that, despite the fact that a person can make many plans and he may have many different thoughts that seem right in his eyes, in the end only what the will of the Lord will come to pass. It is the Lord, the Creator and Master of life, who directs our march and weighs our souls and hearts. In the book of the prophet Jeremiah it is written:

Jeremiah 10:23
“I know, Lord, that his path is not in the will of man, that it is not in the power of the walker to give direction to his steps.”

You may be thinking: why did this or that event happen this way and not otherwise?

You may also judge yourself for what you think you did not do well in a given situation. However, this should not be done.
The Lord of life, the One to whom you entrusted your life, also has the right to vote and his will. Proverbs 24:12 says:

The Lord guards our souls, weighs our hearts, and although we may not know something, He knows everything. The Lord knows everything that worries us or that causes us pain. Instead of blaming ourselves for decisions made in the past or worrying about making upcoming decisions, let's open our hearts to Him, trust Him with our path, and He certainly knows how to guide us. Returning to the example of Paul, which we looked at in the previous issue (Acts 16), it must be said that the revelation regarding where to go and where to preach the Word of God was not given to Paul immediately.

However, this did not mean that he remained anywhere awaiting revelation.
Instead he went to Mysia. But the Lord prevented him. He then tried to go to Galatia, but the Lord again blocked his way. Finally, he arrived in Troas, and there the Lord showed him by revelation that he needed to go to Macedonia and preach there. Paul did not sit at home waiting for a yes or no answer from the Lord. He also did not blame himself for the failure of his plans for the Mission and Galatia. He decided to go there. He sincerely knocked on the door and knew that the Lord had the right to open or close it. Very often we find ourselves at a crossroads when we need to make a decision. Let us make this decision prayerfully and with a pure heart, letting the Lord guide our steps. The most important thing here is not our ability to make decisions or receive revelations, but to trust completely in the Lord and He will guide us along our path. Here's what David says about this: Psalm 37:3-7

“Trust in the Lord and do good; live on earth and keep the truth. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will accomplish
“and He will bring out your righteousness like the light and your justice like the noonday.”

Submit to the Lord and trust in Him.”

Let us commit our ways to the Lord, and He will accomplish everything.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”