“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” — Proverbs 21:5
The photographer for a well-known magazine was assigned to take photos of a great forest fire. The problem was that smoke at the scene hampered him. So he frantically called his home office to hire a plane. “It will be waiting for you at the airport!” he was assured by his editor.
As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. So the reporter jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air.
“Fly over the north side of the fire,” said the photographer, “and make three or four low, level passes.” “Why?” asked the pilot. “Because I’m going to take pictures!” said the photographer with great exasperation. “I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures!”
After a long pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the instructor?”
Many times, in order to make the quickest decision possible, it can be easy to sacrifice our God-given wisdom for the sake of expediency. And all too often, these hasty decisions result in negative outcomes, because when not all the facts are known, bad choices can very easily be made.
Yet the wisdom of the Psalms tells us in today’s passage that diligent planning and seeking the Lord’s will ultimately result in our good. So instead of making decisions too quickly, spend time praying and seeking wise counsel to make the best choices possible!
Prayer Challenge
Pray and ask God to give you wisdom and patience to make decisions that honor Him.
Questions for thought
When is a time in your life where you made a decision too quickly? What were the implications of that?
Who is someone in your life that you can seek for wise counsel?