It occurred to me recently that there are at least three individuals who have very specific plans for us, for our future and for our happiness. Now think about this:

The first person that has a plan for you is you. I mean, don’t you want to be happy? I don’t know of too many people who get up in the morning and say, “Ah, let’s see what I can do to make myself miserable today.”

The second person who has a plan for you is Satan, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what his plans for you are.

But the third person that has a very specific plan for you is God.

Now, think about it: A little bit of careful thought would tell us that the wisest course that we can plot for our own happiness is to align our plans with God’s. If we don’t, then Satan’s plan, by default, takes over. And you know the rest of the story. A person without God in his life’s plans sounds very much like this story that I’d like to tell you. This first appeared in an English newspaper many years ago.

It seems that an English company owned some property in the West Indies. During a hurricane, their property was damaged. So they hired a man to repair the damage. In regards to his experience, the contractor wrote the manager the following letter:

“Respected Sir,

“When I got to the building, I found that the hurricane had knocked some bricks off the top. So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over.

“I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line.

“Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was, and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on, and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow to the shoulder.

“I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground, it burst its bottom, allowing all the bricks to spill out.

“I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at [a] high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injury to my shins. When I hit the ground, I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges.

“At this point I must have lost my presence of mind, because I let go of the line. The barrel then came down, giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital.

“I respectfully request sick leave.”

Talk about a bad day –

Now the point: If we would avoid a lot of pain in our lives later and a lot of spiritual injury, maybe we’d do well to think ahead, to plan ahead and align our plans with the Lord’s plans. May the Lord bless you.