Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. – Proverbs 27:1 (NIV)

Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. – Proverbs 27:1 (KJV)

52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 15
This week’s theme:  Trusting God’s Plan

It’s prudent to plan for the future.   When should I work on my project for school or my job?  Should I go to college and, if so, where?  Should we be saving more?  Should we be giving more?  Should we move or change jobs?  What’s our plan to save for college, a car, a vacation, a wedding or a home?  Where can/should we serve in our church or community?  Even short-term plans…what are we going to do this weekend?  These are the types of things we should plan for if we want to succeed.  Proverbs 21:5 tells us:  “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (NIV).

So…if God’s Word tells us to plan for the future, why does this week’s verse start with “Do not boast about tomorrow” and why did last week’s verse, Proverbs 19:21, remind us that God’s plan will prevail over our plans?  These thoughts may seem contradictory, but they’re not.  There’s nothing wrong with planning for tomorrow.  In fact, as Proverbs 21:5 implies, it would be wrong not to do so.  The key for us, as Christians, is to have the proper mindset as we craft our plans.  We must recognize that God owns the future and His plans will, and should, always take precedence over our plans.  That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make plans.  But to “boast about tomorrow” would imply we’re placing trust in our plans instead of God’s plan.  Rather, we should approach the future as we’re told in James 4:15:
Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (NIV)

We don’t know what the future may bring…but God knows.  Even more, we know with certainty that His plans are always better than our plans…even if we don’t understand them (recall Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 55:8).  Thus, Proverbs 27:1 reminds us not to brag about what we have planned for tomorrow, but to place our trust in the plans of our Creator.

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