The boxing great Mike Tyson once said this about his opponents, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.” I love that quote. I love it because it represents what also happens in life. We all make our plans and then life hits us in the mouth … and there go our plans.
The book of Proverbs addresses the subject of planning. Proverbs 16:1 says, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” And then later on in verse 8, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” These deal with the idea that we are made for responsibility and planning, but at the same time God is in control.
You make your plan for the day: workout at 8 a.m., get groceries at 9:30, lunch with friend at 11:30 a.m., followed by a dental appointment at 2 p.m. However, at 8:30 you get a call while you are on the treadmill that your 8 year old is throwing up at school and you have to go pick her up. Now, instead of your plan a new plan of tending to your sick child has taken precedence. What is the right response? How can we react to these providential hindrances without anger and frustration?
First, we must continue to make our plans each day. The Bible never calls us to passive fatalism. God has made us responsible agents. The verses above assume that we will and should make plans.
Second, we must be realistic about our plans. The purpose of planning is not to give us the sense that we are in absolute control of our lives. That is usually one of the reasons we get frustrated when our plans are interrupted. We operate with the wrong assumption of absolute control.
Third, we must trust that God ultimately is in control. We must trust that in his control he is also good. In fact, his plan for you is always better than your plan, despite what the current circumstances might project. He is good. Consider this … God took the worst plan in history [the crucifixion of Jesus] and brought about the best result [salvation] … see Acts 2:23; 4:27-28.
William Cowper wrote the wonderful hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” The fourth stanza reads, “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.”