Proverbs 21:30-31 - Our Wisdom and God's

Proverbs 21:30-31 -

³⁰ No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
    can avail against the Lord.
³¹ The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but the victory belongs to the Lord.

Message: Our Wisdom and God's

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

Here in these verses, I believe, is the idea that no amount of personal wisdom, understanding, or counsel can ever lessen the need for the Lord. Nothing is greater than God. Sin, is our attempt, to rescue ourselves, through our own means. We do not want to look to God and His ways for accountability, but rather we want to think that our own personal outcomes will succeed in giving us peace, wisdom, understanding, or counsel. This is the big danger with sin. It deceives us when we think that sex outside of marriage is okay or getting drunk is not that big of a deal (i needed it; it helped me to be rescued from the stresses of life or looking at pornography is okay because i don't have an outlet for that sexual need or lying is okay because I do not want to hurt someone or stealing is okay because I have a need and society is not meeting it, and the list goes on. Rather than submitting to the Lord and His ways, we find these pursuits are able to rescue us from what life presents to us. We then view ourselves as wise, having understanding, and recipients of good counsel. 

And verse 31 is a reminder that even the best laid out plans for man does not excuse him from God's path for man. Is it good to eat properly? Yes. Is it good to manage our money well? Yes. Is it good to go to church on Sunday? Yes. But, I am to not thing that by doing these things, I will then avoid God's intended path for me. The victory belongs to the Lord, not to me. He gets the glory. The horse is made ready for the battle, but the victory is the Lord's. I submit and surrender to Him. 

Promise: God has the final say in all matters.