"The Best Laid Plans..." by Pastor Kevin Lynch

The great poet Robert Burns once wrote in his ode "To A Mouse", "The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew."

Ain't that the truth.

Our news media counts on it.

If not for the gleeful daily reporting of the dismal failures of the human race, there would be no ratings and we would be doomed to a steady diet of infomercials and reality shows.

A modern day lyricist, Billy Corgan, says, "Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage."

Michael Jackson needed sleep so his doctor put him to sleep permanently. It was a plan that failed.

Jasmine Fiore thinks she finds her perfect man in Ryan Jenkins. He kills her, commits heinous acts to cover up the murder, and is foiled by serial numbers found on her breast implants. He flees to Canada and commits suicide. Several plans that looked good failed miserably.

A mouse builds its home in the middle of a plows path. The plow passes over and destroys the nest.

Robert Burns sees it as a parallel to life in general.

We may do things that look good at the moment, but suffer the pain and humiliation of dismal failure.

No matter how good they seemed at the time.

"The BEST laid plans of mice AND men...".

It's not exactly an original thought.

God said it a really long time ago.

"There is a way that seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death." (Proverbs 16:25)

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." What a sweet touch of Americana that one is.

My longstanding challenge to my congregation is still in effect.

I have been saying for years that there is not one single sin that man commits that is not rooted in selfishness. I occasionally resurrect the challenge to prove that statement wrong.

I probably wasn't entirely sure that I believed that myself when I said it.

I'm entirely sure today.

Our best laid plans done apart from the counsel of God is at best a selfish rebelliousness that is doomed to fail from the earliest conceptual stages.

What can I add to that except .........*sigh*.

...and some good biblical exhortation...

Hosea 10:12 (Amplified Bible)

"Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord... ."

I pray today that we would always seek to do the right thing and continually receive the loving mercy of Christ, and that we would break up the uncultivated, fallow ground of our hearts and make it a rich soil for the planting of God's perfect plan for us.

Be blessed today and run everything past Jesus first!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

Visit my blog at: http://keepinitrealpastorkevin.blogspot.com/