"In planning for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but the act of planning is indispensable." -Dwight D. Eisenhower
This is a quote from a U.S. President, but it came to mind when I was doing some reading in Habbakuk, and thinking about our own plans and God's plans. As people, we have limited understanding, limited vision, and limited abilities. Our plans never seem to work out exactly as we expect them to. Planning, however, is a very useful process! Planning involves thinking, using tools, and using your brain. That's a good thing! When your planning involves prayer and the Word of God, you will better be able to see God's hand and plans in your own life and in the world around you. Even when things seem completely out of control, God is in control.
Does this always happen? Is God's plan always revealed to us? No... Sometimes not even afterward.
In the book of Job, God never reveals His plans to Job. He reveals Himself to Job at the end of the book, but never His full plan.
Conversely, in the book of Habbakuk, God DOES reveal His plan to the prophet and the prophet doesn't understand it and doesn't like it! The prophet has a very hard time understanding why God would allow His people (Israel) to be persecuted and punished by an even worse group of people (the Chaldeans).
Do you know what Habbakuk's response was? He questions God's plan, but submits to God, and waits on him.
Habbakuk 2:1 - "I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved."
The prophet understands that God's ways are higher than his own. He waits to see the big picture, and trusts in God's plans. Like Habbakuk it is ok to have our own plans and thoughts of how we think things should go, but even more importantly we should seek and submit to God's plan for our lives.