Life’s Hassles: Problem or Providence?  

            Scottish poet Robert Burns got it right: “The best laid schemes of mice and men oft go awry.”

            I don’t know what frustrations Burns was experiencing or observing when he wrote those lines in 1785. I am sure, though, that he wasn’t trying to get to Jamaica for his honeymoon, like my son and his new bride were a few weeks ago when they experienced a wee bit of the poet’s angst.

            Aye, ’tis true—even our most carefully made plans can indeed go awry.

            Arriving at the airport to catch a morning flight to paradise, our newlywed son and daughter-in-law were greeted with an announcement that their plane was “broken” (a direct quote).

            I don’t think “broken” and “plane” should ever be used in the same sentence. I try very hard to pretend that planes can’t break.

            So, Andy and Janine’s first morning together as husband and wife turned out to be one of those frustrating hurry-up-and-wait life experiences. They did eventually get to Jamaica that evening, arriving just ahead of a tropical storm that apparently booked a reservation for the same time … but that’s a story for another time.

            As for the whole “broken plane” thing, I was sorry that their honeymoon plans didn’t go according to script, but we were all very, very thankful that the problem was discovered while the plane was still on terra firma.

            In fact, when Janine posted a message about their delayed plans on her “Facebook” page (even newlyweds can get bored while waiting in airports), I responded with this message: “Old Chinese proverb say, ‘Much better to be stuck in airport than frying on broken prane... even on honeymoon.’”

            The way I see it, there are two ways to look at delays, detours and disappointments: as problems or as providence. Our perspective has everything to do with our belief about ultimate control in this universe.

            If we believe that no one is at the helm, then we’re doomed to also believe that what happens in our lives and in the world is random. That means we’re at the mercy of the whims and mistakes of others and ourselves. Pretty scary.

             I may start out feeling quite in control of my destiny today, only to have that control usurped by a toddler who doesn’t care about my to-do list, a boss who dumps an assignment on my desk, a spouse who needs me to squeeze an unexpected errand into my schedule, a bad driver who runs a stop sign, a virus that batters my immune system, a “broken plane,” or a tropical storm.

            But if I believe that there is a very real, personal, wise, good, loving, all-powerful God who has a plan and is in control, then I can rest in His assurance that He is skillfully weaving all the threads of my life together to make a beautiful tapestry.

            The backside of that tapestry may not look too great, a tangle of threads and knots with almost no discernible pattern. That’s the way life sometimes looks to us, living as we are on this “backside” of heaven.

            But turn that tapestry over, as believers in Christ will get to do one day, and we’ll see how God wove all the threads together to make something beautiful.

            Delays, detours and disappointments – problems or providence?

            I choose providence; I choose God, who promises to ultimately “work all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

            His “best laid schemes” never go awry.

            ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope….’ (Jeremiah 29:11)