The way that seems right
The rich fool's plan
Jesus tells of a man whose plan was, by every worldly measure, sensible: a bumper crop, so he would build bigger barns, store it all, and finally relax — eat, drink, and be merry. It seemed obviously right. Then God speaks: you fool, tonight your soul is required of you; whose will all this be?
The plan was reasonable, prudent, even admirable by ordinary standards — and it was deadly, because it left God entirely out of the calculation. Proverbs names the trap: there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. A path can look obviously correct and still be catastrophically wrong.
“You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you.”
— God, in Jesus' parable — Luke 12:20 (WEB)
A path can seem obviously right and still be deadly wrong. Test your 'obvious' plans against God, who sees the end you can't.
“There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
The rich fool's plan was sensible by every worldly measure and still condemned, because it left God out. A leader formed here tests even his most obvious plans against God. He distrusts the seeming-rightness that bypasses scrutiny. The inner work is submitting your confident plans to God, who sees the end.
Test your most obvious, confident plans against God and wise counsel, precisely because they feel beyond question. Watch for plans that are sensible by worldly measures but leave God out. Resist the false security of a path that merely seems right. Bring even your no-brainers under God's scrutiny.
Leaders scrutinize doubtful plans but wave through the ones that seem obviously right, exactly where the fatal flaw hides. The blind spot is the unexamined obvious plan that quietly leaves God out.
Identify one plan that seems so obviously right you haven't tested it against God. This week, bring it under honest scrutiny and prayer before you proceed.
The most dangerous plans are not the ones that look foolish, but the ones that look obviously right — sensible, prudent, admirable — while quietly leaving God out of the calculation. The way that seems right can still end in disaster.
What plan of yours seems so obviously right that you haven't tested it against God — and could its 'obviousness' be hiding a fatal flaw?