“You’re not the boss of me!” my nephew shouted. His mom was in the house nursing her newborn daughter, and I was trying to take Little Lord Feisty out for a ride. My plan was to drive him around for a bit and give my sister a break. Yet he wouldn’t quite cooperate. Arguing about the best seat for a
4-year old, he lost his cool in a big-time tantrum.

“You’re not the boss of me!” He planned to sit up front and wouldn’t be dissuaded. My purpose was to get headed down the road for some fun.

Our world’s collided.

We never even left the driveway.

Are we that way? Are we yelling, “You’re not the boss of me!” to God?

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but God’s purpose prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

I can still remember the day I first saw that Scripture. I felt a blow to my stomach, a grouchy exclamation of “You gotta be kiddin’ me,” and a streak of rebellion a mile wide. You’re not the Boss of me, buddy, You’re not the Boss of me.

After all, what does Proverbs 19:21 mean? Does it mean that our plans don’t really matter? Is that what it says?

Or does it say that no matter what we plan, God will have His way in the end? Grrrr, sounds bossy to me.

At first, this made me feel an ant in an Ant Farm. It fun to watch ants busy at work, especially since they are very unaware of being observed. Some builder ants pile sand in one area, a high rise. Some ants dig perfect tunnels. Some ants even bring their dead to the ant cemetery. Yet a child, for fun, can stick a pencil in their plastic world, and undo all of their work in an instant. It’s not fair.

Is what I’m doing just ant-like busy work?

And, gulp, is God the overseer with the pencil, blocking one trail so another one must be built? Does He override our plans, just because He can? The thought burned me up.

Why did it burn me up? Maybe I’d long believed, as the jingle told me, that I could “Have it My Way.” Not just at Burger King, but in this whole, big, wide world. “Have it Your Way.” To find out that there’s a way higher than my way, that’s big.

Could it be that we think our planning is the main thing, when it’s really not? Does God’s purpose prevail whether we acknowledge Him or not?

There was a time when I planned to go to college. Thus, I did well in high school, with the impressive extra-curriculars, in order to get into a good college. I did it.

Then, once in college, I planned to secure a high-paying and satisfying career. My plans worked out, I was hired by a prestigious advertising agency, and off I went to work, within weeks of college graduation. I did it. (Or so I thought.)

I didn’t plan to fall flat on my face there, but in many ways, I did. I did not plan to meet my future husband when I was crying and hung-over on a plane, but I did. I did not plan to meet the Lord of the Universe at one of the lowest points in my life. Yet when I did, I knew He was what I was looking for all along.

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but God’s purpose prevails.

He is so gracious to allow us the freedom to make plans…good plans and bad plans. It’s called freewill.

Freewill allows us to choose lots of other things. Sex, drugs, rock-n-roll….whatever. It’s our choice.

God could have made us Faithful Robots, all implanted with the I-Believe chips. But then we would have been just that…robots.

He didn’t want robots, He wanted friends. Friends who would freely choose to love him, and surrender their plans to His overall purpose.

The same microchip that allows us to eat a case of Girl Scout cookies, or light that cigarette, or accept that job…..it also allows us to choose Him to be our Rescuer, our Hero, our Friend. He built us that way.

These days, I have overcome some (but not all) of my earlier rebellion and my shouts of “You’re not the Boss of me!” to the Lord. I’ve come to appreciate that He is the Boss of me. Bit by bit, I trade in my freewill in exchange for God’s will. I hand him my ways, my time, and my work. I haven’t given Him everything….but I’m getting there.

I’m glad to have Him overseeing everything, with a purpose that trumps my often silly and short-sighted plans. Because there is rest in that relinquishment.

God’s-purpose-prevails is a blessing, a love song, murmured like the last quiet “I love you” to a child you are putting to bed. He sings over us,

“Make your plans, my sweet, and dream your dreams…I’ve got you covered.”