Wednesday morning I was planning to share lunch with a couple of friends, finish up my Wednesday work schedule and enjoy fried chicken and fellowship with my church family. I was looking forward to being back in choir practice after being absent several weeks. Then my sister called from Birmingham saying Mother seemed confused. We both knew this probably indicated an infection of some kind, most likely urinary tract. After several conversations back and forth, I hurriedly competed my work and headed to Birmingham mid-afternoon.
All of my plans for the evening and the next day changed in a matter of moments. How thankful I was for a sweet understanding husband who urged me to be careful and gave me some professional advice for caring for my mother. How thankful I was that I was within 1 1/2 hours driving distance of my mother. How thankful I was for my sister who was right there and had things under control when I arrived. How thankful I was for mother's response to the medicine and a return to almost normal the next day. How thankful I was for a workplace where everyone said, "Go take care of your mother." How thankful I was that the world didn't come to a screeching halt because my plans changed.
Robert Burns' poem, "To a Mouse" talks of the despair of planning and preparation that come to nothing. The much used line, "the best laid schemes o' Mice and Men often go awry" are from this poem. Let me share just a few thoughts from God's word on "plans". Proverbs 16:1 says, "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." Proverbs 16:9, "The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 19:21, "Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand."
God honors our planning and bringing order to our lives through our plans. However, He is always sovereign over our lives and our plans. There is no such thing as coincidence. Every moment of my life is ordered by God. Thus I can live in the confidence of knowing that everything that happens to me today has first been sifted through His fingers of love.
Father, may I be truly thankful for Your plans for my life. How thankful I am that though my plans may go awry, your perfect plans for my life will be in place. May I be attentive to the changes You interject in my plans today and may I faithfully follow your direction of my steps.
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