All our tomorrows

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."

If we chatted over a cup of coffee, I’m sure both of us could fill up an hour talking about those moments when our best-laid plans went awry! Millions of Americans saw dreams die with the economic collapse last year. In Haiti yesterday, the ground shook and in a country where daily existence was already beyond difficult, life just became impossible for thousands of desperate people. It doesn’t take an earthquake or a severe recession to turn life upside down. It can be much more personal. We can lose our way, make a stupid choice, allow ourselves to believe a lie just for a moment, only to find ‘naught but grief and pain!’

In Genesis, we meet a man named Joseph who met more than a few surprises on the way to his horizons! As the favored son of Jacob, he started life with great expectations. God loved him, too. He was blessed with dreams and intelligence. But one day in a dusty desert, his jealous brothers changed everything and sold him to slavers who took him to Egypt. Game over, right? Not quite! He persisted and found himself managing the household a rich man. One day in the bedroom that changed when Potiphar’s wife decided she really wanted to sleep with the good looking kid. His refusal earned him a false accusation of rape and a long term in prison. Game over? No. He kept on doing the right thing and through a set of unbelievable circumstances was led to the Pharaoh and a place as Prime Minister of a world class nation. Decades after that terrible day when he was wrenched from home and family and sold into slavery, his brothers showed up in court. When they found out who was sitting on the throne, they quaked with terror. Now it was Joseph’s turn to be a game changer. His faithful heart is revealed in what he said to them. “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:19-20, NIV)
“God has a plan,” people tell us when the world has just flipped! It can be just a cliché or we can receive it as the truth! He really does have a plan. In the amazing way that only an all-powerful and all-knowing God could, He takes our surprises and uses them to present new opportunities. When somebody says, “just trust me,” I’m immediately on guard. The line is often a lead-in to a scheme that will benefit the other person more than it will benefit me. But when our Lord says, “Trust Me!” we really can. We must. "While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding, while I wait and hope for him." (Isaiah 8:17, The Message) “Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won’t be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!” Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:2-3, The Message)

I am not a fatalist! The Lord has given us freedom to choose and often we (and others whose choices effect us) choose unwisely or sinfully. But I am a ‘faithful-ist!’ He can take even the sinful choices and, if we will trust Him with them, use them to make us who He wants us to be. Rest in that today.
Here’s a prayer from the Psalms for those whose life has gone awry. If you’re struggling to make sense of it all, make it yours.

"Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord;
may your love and your truth always protect me.
For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to save me;
O Lord, come quickly to help me." (Psalm 40:11-13, NIV)

"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say, “The Lord be exalted!”
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay." (Psalm 40:16-17, NIV)

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All my tomorrows, all my past,
Jesus is Lord of all.
I've quit my struggles,
Contentment at last,
Jesus is Lord of all.

King of kings, Lord of lords,
Jesus is Lord of all;
All my possessions
And all my life,
Jesus is Lord of all.

Jesus Is Lord Of All
Gaither, William J. / Gaither, Gloria
© 1973 William J. Gaither, Inc. ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management

CCLI License No. 810055