But God....

         "The best laid plans..."
          How many times have we heard or repeated that phrase?  Basically meaning--"I planned and planned, and it was all for nought...or everything changed...my plans didn't pan out..." or, well you know the drill.
         Our son, Preyer, is among millions of folks who are dealing with that reality right now because of the dreaded coronavirus. He'd been planning a couple month back packing trip across Europe after he graduated and before he begins work in May. He carefully researched and planned every last detail. His sister was meeting him for part of the trip. Several dear friends were meeting him at different parts. My husband and I planned to meet him for part as well (for my husband's first trip to Europe).  And now, nada.  We all had to cancel. And Preyer had to abandon his original plan and is now trying to salvage a greatly truncated bit of travel in eastern Europe (where the virus hasn't spread nearly as much).
        Preyer's attitude has been incredibly mature. He recently wrote of all the sudden and dramatic changes that he's "learning to embrace it and enjoy the unexpected turns."
        But here's my point in bringing this up: when we first talked the other day about how all his travel plans had blown up, he said, “I hate that I wasted all that time planning this.” I reminded him, however, that nothing’s ever wasted. He had learned a lot and now would be well prepared the next time he wants to take a trip.  That effort, that time spent learning was not a waste, despite the unexpected upheaval of plans.
All this immediately brought to mind two things First, our time spent learning and investing in God’s Word is NEVER EVER wasted!  You never know when the investment in time and effort you are putting in now, will one day yield enormous benefits and blessings. Putting in time now, prepares you for the crises of tomorrow. Each day, each minute in God's Word plants His seed deep within your heart and that seed will blossom into strength in times of distress, wisdom in times of perplexity, hope in times of discouragement, God-confidence in times of uncertainty, and faith in times of fear.            Put in the those deposits now, knowing they will yield a hundred and a thousand fold in the future. No matter what, make it a priority to get into God’s Word everyday so that He can renew your mind, refocus your gaze upon Jesus, and refuel your faith in Him.
Secondly, we have absolutely no idea what the future holds, but we place our faith in the One who holds the future. Sure, we can and should make our plans, but if nothing else, the past few months have surely taught us that we cannot control the future.  Our plans may completely fail, but God never will.
These past few months have been filled with some deep sorrows and challenging difficulties for a number of people very close to me.  None of us planned for tragedy or death or disease or accidents. And the entire globe now sees how a microscopic virus can literally wreak deadly havoc across the entire planet.  As the great Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal once noted, “Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature . . . There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapor . . . is enough to kill him.”
BUT GOD! In our Bible study this year, we've found ourselves repeating that phrase over and over again--but God. But God is in control. But God is our heavenly Father, and His love for us is infinite and unstoppable. But God sees the whole vast picture while we only glimpse the tiniest little speck of it. But God has already defeated the powers of sin and death at the cross. But God took the worst event in human history and brought about it the greatest, most unimaginable eternal good out of it.  But God has promised He will use ALL things—even tragedies, even sorrows, even premature deaths, even viruses, even economic collapse—for our ultimate good and His greater glory. But God is coming back and will make all things new. But God is preparing for us a perfect, joyous, eternal Home in heaven.
And so might we will choose to trust in Him and His Word rather than our circumstances and our feelings. Might we choose to daily renew our minds in His Word so that we can glimpse His glory and be filled with His wisdom, power, love, and hope. And might we constantly keep in our hearts the great truth of but God.  He will make a way through our blighted hopes and blasted plans, and one glorious day, we will proclaim the goodness and greatness of His perfect plans and ways.
          To God be the glory.