Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. - Prov. 15:22

  It is with an increasing frequency that I consult with those closest to me for different perspectives on something I'm thinking or planning. I find that wise counsel grows in value like gold or real estate. There's always a new angle to be considered that you might not have thought of on your own. The trouble in this I often face, however, is composing and gathering so many different angles that I struggle or altogether fail to make them fit into a coherent shape. Such is the price of having an analytical mind that is wont to overperform its task at the slightest opportunity.
  One of the biggest messages drummed into me growing up was to think...or better yet, to think ahead. While I have the ability to see two or three steps ahead on most occasions, I suffer from the classic introvert disease of thinking myself into a tailspin. The more fully developed the mind, the more it suffers. After all, the old saying goes that you can't confuse someone who's mindless.
  But there is a comfortable middle I'm finding in all of this: "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." - Prov. 14:15. It's ok to gather the information I need to make a decision. It's ok if I don't immediately believe or agree with it all. When there's a future to build, every step counts and they all can be taken as slowly or swiftly as need be. It's like the old carpenter saying, "Measure twice, cut once!"
  Scripture teaches that one of the benefits of a close walk with God is clarity in the midst of the clutter, a solid promise that all the angles will be made to fit or omitted if necessary:

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." - Prov. 16:9

"If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand." - Psalm 37:23-24

  Our steps are made firm, confident, knowledgeable of the direction, trusting in the fact that God has made the path clear in his time...we could not walk it successfully any other way! "Though he stumble, he will not fall..." Our Father is not such a rigid taskmaster that mistakes are not tolerated. That's comforting for me personally, given that I grew up under one of those! He knows we are but flesh; his planned course is not derailed just because one of his children detours into Moronville once in a while!
  If our course is the same as his, we are sure to reach victory...even if it doesn't appear in the original human conception of the blueprint. How many of us look back upon where we've been and think, "Wow...didn't see that one coming!" Submitting all of our angles to the guidance of the Spirit promises to make such reflection viewable from a peak instead of obscured by a pitfall.