Day: August 19, 2026

Proverbs 16:9

“A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

We all make plans. We think about tomorrow, choose a direction, and hope things work out as expected. Proverbs 16 reminds us that planning is not wrong, but it also reminds us that our plans are not the final word. Sometimes a door closes, and we feel disappointed. But that closed door may simply be God changing our direction. He sees what we cannot see. He knows where each road leads.

I especially love the thought that God determines our steps. He may not show us the journey at once. Often, He gives us only the next step. So make your plans, but hold them with an open hand. Tell God what you hope for, then trust Him to change the route. Our plans reveal what we want. His direction reveals what He knows is best.

Prayer: Lord, guide my steps, close wrong doors, and help me trust Your better way each day.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking. 

2 Kings 5:2-3

“At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a young girl from the land of Israel. As a slave she waited on Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.'”

We do not even know her name. She was young, far from home, and living as a slave-servant in the house of the man whose army had taken her captive. Yet her suffering had not destroyed her faith.

She could not heal Naaman, but she knew where to send him. Her simple sentence eventually led Naaman to say, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel” (verse 15).

I wonder if that young girl ever realized what her few words accomplished. It reminds us that we do not need an important position to have an important influence. God took one faithful person, one conversation, and one small act of faith and used it to change someone’s life.

Prayer: Lord, help me faithfully point others toward You, trusting You to use even my small influence.

I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.