In his poem "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785", the Scots Bard, Rabbie Burns makes this statement: "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley," ("However well we make our plans, be we mice or men, they often go awry,").
This is something to which, I suspect, every one of us can testify! When I look back over my own life, I can see so many situations in which the plans that I so carefully laid, went completely and utterly "bottoms-up"!
We may read about a man named Job in the Tanakh (the 'Old Testament' of the Christian Bible). His material wealth was such that he is described as "... the greatest of all the people of the east." (Job 1:3). He had a large family; thousands of animals; and many servants. It would certainly appear that all of his plans had worked out rather well! To top it all, we are informed that he "... was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil." (1:1). Yet, as we read the record - and it is well worth reading, to understand the real reason behind his situation - we discover that he lost all that he had, even his own good physical health. Ultimately, it would seem, even this man's plans had gone awry!
However, read on. Listen to what his friends said; the counsel that they gave him. Even his wife seems to have turned against him (2:9) - but read his response! All hope seemed to be cut off; he was beset by difficulties; there appeared to be no way out. So what is Job's response? It is a heartfelt declaration of faith! "But [God] knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (23:10).
Yes, everything was frustrating and baffling. It seemed that even the Lord had forsaken him. Humanly speaking, there was no future; no way out; no escape. Then, with the eye of faith, his vision pierced the gloom and rejoiced in the fact that God knows, and already sees, our future. He knows the end from the beginning. From His vantage-point of eternity, He sees all of our time simultaneously! Nothing ever takes Him by surprise. He is the "I AM" (see Ex.3:14); the One Who dwells in an eternal present! What a God! Job could not see one step in front of him - yet he was certain that the Lord was watching over him.
I wonder if you are in that sort of situation as you read this post. I know that my wife and I are currently there. The reason for which we truly believed that we were being called to live in France has gone. What seemed to be the possible alternative is not going as we had expected. What are we to do? What will befall each one of us is not yet revealed. But He knows, and so we turn to Him, saying with Job: "He knows the way." However sorely we may be tried and tested, we know that it will, ultimately, be for our own good, and to His glory for, "... when He has tried [us, we] shall come forth as gold."
Perhaps today will even be the day when we shall hear the sound of the shofar of God, and ascend to meet with the Lord Jesus "... in the air;" (I Thess.4:17), and we shall emerge as that 'gold' to shine, eternally, in His Kingdom! And "... we know that, when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (I Jn.3:2). Faith will give way to sight, and doubts and fears will disappear.
If I was forced to name one single favourite Christian song, it would be the beautiful (and poignant, if one checks the background story!) "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way; when sorrows, like sea billows, roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know, It is well, it is well with my soul". That peace comes from the certain knowledge that "He knows the way". May those words be your own strength, whatever your situation and circumstances. And to Him, be all the praise and the glory.
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