The best laid plans of mice and men

The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. - Psalm 33v10

But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

Thus wrote Robert Burns in his classic poem, 'To a Mouse.' The poem is, in essence, about the vanity of effort. Everything the mouse does seems to be at the capricious whim of fate and nature.

But, as Burns points out, that doesn't just apply to the mouse. We set out all of our great plans and ambitions and we set our own goals and set about achieving them without ever thinking about what God might want.

We don't always ignore God in our plans though. Sometimes we make plans with the best at heart and a desire to do the right thing.

I have learned though that a lot of times God's plans are not our plans. Even, as Burns wrote, the best laid plans are often doomed to go askew. Things don't often work out the way we planned them.

The difference between what Burns wrote and the Christian life is that we still have that hope of he 'promised joy' one day. Though we may go through grief and pain to get there, and our own foresight may be in vain, we have the blessed hope of eternal joy.

After all, are the best laid plans of the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, and immutable God certain to be far better than the best laid plans of mice and men?