Man Plans, God Laughs

Man Plans, God Laughs

“The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray”.  This saying is adapted from a line in the poem “To A Mouse” by Robert Burns. What it means is that no matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it.  This goes hand in hand with the Yiddish Proverb “Man plans, God Laughs.”

I believe this is a modern “twist” on the Biblical verse found in Psalm 33:10:  “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.” (In other words, men may plan but God has plans of His own)  At first glance we are prone to see this in a negative light, but it isn’t necessary always negative. This past weekend I had a wonderful life experience of this amazing truth.

The ministry to which God has led me is one that ministers to the over the road truck driver.  Many of our locations involve the use of trailers such as the type that you see on the interstate and delivering goods to the stores and merchants.  Let’s face it, if you eat it, wear it, or sit on it a truck driver delivered it.  These trailer chapels are placed in truck stops so as to be convenient for the drivers, and we really appreciate those companies that invite us into the plazas.  However, sometimes it is necessary to reposition one and this begins my story.  Once such Truckstop contacted us and asked us to reposition the chapel.  This particular chapel had been in its spot for approximately twelve years, so you can imagine what we were up against.  We began to imagine all the problems that would arise and began to make provision for them.  Problems such as rusted airbrakes frozen in place, tires being bad or ill inflated, air suspension being too low, and etc.  In addition to this we would need a truck and driver and a team of volunteers to make the move.  Hats off to Fedex and volunteers from First Baptist Church in Port Worth, GA.  This is where the lesson begins.  None of the ‘problems’ we anticipated proved to be a hindrance, but we encountered an entirely different set of difficulties.

The first thing to happen was when the truck tried to back up to the trailer, the moment if got over the curb, the pulling wheels began to spin and the front wheels sunk down and locked in against the curb.  As we were trying to figure out our course of action, the Lord provides a forklift and a logging chain.  We filled in the ruts and repositioned the truck with some boarding and steel plate and began again.  The truck made it back to the trailer, but about 6 inches from the hitch pin locking in the truck began to spin its wheels again in the soft soil.  But with the ingenuity of a company owner that was helping us, and the same chain the two were pulled together in short order.

The truck pulled out and the trailer rolled freely to its new home site.  Within just a short time the chapel was positioned and we were ready to unhook the truck.  The trouble is that the grade slope of the land was going to prevent this and the spin of the drive wheels was all we saw.  Before we could decide our next course of action, a driver going back to his truck from the c-store spoke up “Do you want me to get my truck and pull you out?”  In a few minutes he had unhooked his trailer and was back with his truck and a chain.  In less time than it took him to return the chapel was unhooked and didn’t move an inch from where we placed it. With the help of a forklift, the steps were in place and by noon all was ready for the next morning’s Driver’s Fellowship Meeting.

So, indeed we planned, and God laughed.  Not at us, but at the enemy who tried to hinder us.  By the way, the next day’s meetings had a marked increase in attendance.  Please pray for our chaplains as they sow the seeds of the Gospel, pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest, and also, please pray for God’s provision as we seek financial support for this home mission field.