In writing this blog each week I had planned on releasing a book based on these writings. This reminds me of a great novel I once read called “Of Mice and Men” a great book written by John Steinbeck in 1937. A novel based on the best laid schemes of mice and men which go awry. We plan and scheme in life as to what are going to do but God always has a say in the matter. 1 Corinthians 4:19 “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.” We never know what will happen and when it will happen in our lives. The Apostle Paul would write to the cities he would visit and there were times he planned to make a trip and he would get detained. He learned to write if the Lord permits.
We too must practice this as we don’t know what tomorrow will bring for any of us. I may plan many things in this life but if God doesn’t allow it won’t come to past.
The story, “Of Mice and Men” is representative of a time in the 1920′s when two men had a great relationship, friendship without it being about anything other than that. These two characters Lennie and George dreamed of a life on a farm as ranch hands earning enough money to someday, as soon as they managed to save enough money, they will buy a farm together and, as Lennie puts it, “live off the fatta the lan’.” They will grow their own food, raise livestock, and keep rabbits, which Lennie will tend. This familiar story cheers both of them up. As happens in life things didn’t go as they planned. How many times in our lives things didn’t go as we planned them? I have learned that nothing works the way I plan it. Especially in the Kingdom of God! My choice of how things will tend to go does not go that way often. Just as with Lennie and George things have a way of going awry, plans for us don’t seem to line up just as we planned it.
In the end the story of Lennie and George ended in tragedy with Lennie dreaming of that beautiful place the farm they had planned to buy together. George being humane shot Lennie in the back of the head in order to save him from his fate of being hung. This story is typical of how the plans we make can often be deceptive. Only what we do for Christ will make a difference.
We are headed for another new year 2012. Many of us have big plans for this new year. Don’t be surprised if those plans change out of necessity. God wants you and I to seek his counsel with where we are going in this life of ours. Today as we embark on our journey, take heart the road ahead is not what it seems. There are some bumps and curves ahead.
Samuel King, Senior Pastor
Christlike Life Church, Laveen, AZ
