The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley.
That is a famous line from a poem called “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. Translated: The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry. I think we know the meaning of that phrase all too well! The Sisters in Christ committee planned a retreat for March of 2020. We planned music, speakers, games, and Bible Studies. We spent hours planning and preparing.
Many of you planned on coming to that retreat. You planned your budgets, your babysitters, who you would drive with, and who you would room with. Some of you planned an extra night so you could have even more time retreating!
But our best laid plans went awry, didn’t they? Or did they?
Scripture tells us: "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." (Proverbs 16:3) Did we commit our plans and what we were doing to the Lord? I would say that we did! So, why didn’t our plans succeed?
God has never promised that we would always get what we pray for or what we plan on. What he does promise is that he will work all things out for the good of his children. God’s plans are much higher than our plans. And the results of his plans are always successful. He takes our plans and makes them successful. Proverbs 19:21 says: "Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the Lord will prevail." And that is a comfort. Because we can plan all we want, but what we really want are the plans, don’t we? Which is why we can confidently commit our plans to the Lord and know that those plans will succeed. They will succeed in ways that we may never fully understand, but they will succeed. Proverbs 16:9 says: "In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."
And so, we plan. We commit our plans to the one who rules all things. We trust in the one who will take our best laid schemes and ensure that they are successful.
