Living with Plan 'B'

Robert Burns, the 18th century Scottish poet, wrote of the poor mouse whose nest was torn up by the farmer's plow.
"The best laid schemes
o' mice and men
Gang aft a-gley, (go oft awry)
And leaves us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy."

We think life is planned, that everything is going in the direction we hoped for, and then - a tsunami washes ashore, our job is eliminated, the doctor announces cancer, our teenager reveals a drug habit, our spouse walks out, we lose our nerve, etc. Suddenly our hopes and dreams for tomorrow seem no longer to have a foundation as the road ahead is washed out.

What then? What do we do when plan 'A' disappears? That's the question I wrestled with as I dropped off to sleep last night. In the middle of trying to figure out the next step....

I thought back to another time when life, as I planned it, was swallowed by developments unsought and unanticipated. Two decades ago, due in part to my own foolish choices and, in part, to snow-balling circumstances beyond my control, I found myself unemployed, forced to sell our home, and eventually called to pastor a church 1/10th the size of the one I'd served previously, with one half the salary; all that with a wife and 4 little kids depending on me for support.

It appeared that my life had taken a huge step backward. The grief I felt was terrible and real, but because I mistakenly thought Christians did not grieve, I held it all inside and consequently, suffered a time of terrible depression. My life, at that time, was beyond plan 'B!' For a couple of years I walked each day, step by step, like a man feeling his way in the dark, and wondered if God had abandoned me.

But with time, I realized He gave me a gift of rare and precious value when He allowed things to be turned upside down. That reassignment likely saved my marriage, enabled me to become a real Dad who spent time with his children, and most valuable of all - taught me to drink deeply of the cup of God's grace. He showed Himself faithful to me, even when I was faithless towards Him. I came to love that place seeing it not as the exile it once seemed, but as His sovereign plan for my good, a rich and wonderful place of greater blessings! Years later I was able to say what Joseph said when he was facing the brothers who sold him into slavery decades earlier- "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done." (Genesis 50:20, NIV)

So, as I lay in dark and reviewed my own life story, I found comfort in knowing that God always has a plan. We may not see 'round the bend in life's road, and often that's a good thing, but He does. Life is never plan 'B' to Him, nor for those who live in His care.

Are you struggling with more questions than answers today?
Did the road of life you thought you were traveling disappear in the storms of life?

Wait on Him to reveal His purposes. What surprises you and me, is never a surprise to the Omniscient One.

Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you. ...
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. ..." (Psalm 37:2-7, NLT)
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