Best Laid Plans

We are ruined by our own stupidity, though we blame the Lord.

-- Proverbs 19:3

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray," wrote Scottish poet Robert Burns. No matter how well we prepare, stuff happens. And when it does, it can lead to disappointment and confusion. Just ask the Apple, Inc. executives about Apple Maps.

Several years ago, Apple replaced Google Maps with Apple Maps on its wildly popular iPhone and other devices. The company's executives expected the app to be yet another user-friendly feature that their customers would rave about. Instead, Apple Maps rapidly disappointed its users because of a variety of remarkable glitches. For example, the app's 3D flyover feature displayed grotesquely distorted images of well-known landmarks. It also rendered the wrong locations for well-known addresses. And famous monuments--even entire cities--seemingly evaporated into cyberspace. Apple's engineers had planned for success. But not thoroughly enough.

It's safe to say that just about everyone who's ever walked this planet has wondered why God allows disappointments. We reason that if he's all-powerful, he should prevent them. But consider that God's mysteries extend far beyond human experience and comprehension. For example, why should a year-old child die of an incurable disease? Or why do thousands of seemingly innocent people around the globe die each year in natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis? 

In both instances we must remind ourselves that God's ways aren't our ways. Moreover, our human minds are simply too limited to grasp the entirety of his greater purpose.

However, we're not totally in the dark here. God's word to us--the Bible--gives us several clues. First, we live in an imperfect world where bad things can (and often do) happen. Ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, perfection on Earth was spoiled. Indeed, we can read about the world's first murder in the opening chapter of the Bible. And it was downhill from there.

Our own bad choices are another reason for disappointment, pain and suffering. If someone chooses to get drunk and then gets behind the wheel, tragedy often follows. But that's hardly God's fault. We instead reap from the foolishness we sow.

The flip-side here is that we worship a God who specializes in turning seemingly bad situations into very happy endings. Consider someone who gets laid off from a job, only to find a much better one in a different city--and with better pay--in a completely different industry. If it weren't for the "tragedy" of unemployment, that worker might have become stuck in a boring, dead-end job with little future. God (as always) knows best!

Finally, God often turns bad into good by using it to discipline and mature us. Are we ever the same after experiencing a major illness or family tragedy? It's through adversity that we draw closer to God and depend on his help. And our Creator can even use our suffering as a witness to others. If you're a Christ-follower faced with a God-sized situation, where you place your faith speaks volumes to others.

The human experience is filled with disappointment and heartache. But God never promised us a pain-free existence. In fact, Jesus told his disciples to expect trouble. But let's take comfort that we worship a "Big Picture" God--one who sees beyond our nearsighted plans to turn even the greatest disappointments into the greater good.