While texting a friend today I said, “our planes are God’s punch lines”, a phrase I had heard once or twice before. The spell check didn’t correct my typo of “plans”, and yet the phrase still held strong meaning. He asked me what it meant, and though I knew the meaning, I had never taken the time to put it into the perspective of my own life and decisions. I then responded with a thought to the extent that “We as humans have a strong control complex which causes us to feel the need to plan every part of our lives and make timelines, when in reality God already knows what is going to happen and he just chuckles”. It is safer to know.
The unknown is the frightening concept of “that which we have no control over”. Everyone wants to be successful and rich, but just as Joel Osteen explained in a podcast I listened to today, you have to “be comfortable with who you are”. No we don’t know where we are supposed to end up, but if we do not start heading there then we may be in turn limiting someone else’s destiny. Teachers do not necessarily get paid the largest of checks, but where would our doctors, lawyers, engineers, and scientists be without one to guide them in the right direction. You told yourself when you “make it big” you will donate money to charities, but what if you are instead called to volunteer in a foreign country and through a non-profit organization help rebuild their infrastructure. We all have gifts and talents that we are called to use whether in a capacity that is big or small. When I was younger I thought that just because I could sing, I was supposed to become a gospel singer, but that was not it. If in my lifetime I sing only one song that touches one heart and I never get any praise or recognition, it is still worth it because my reward is not of this world, but from above.
So why should the chicken cross the road? Of course the Chicken is scared, [pun intended] and has no clue as to what will happen in the time it takes to get from one side to the other, but one thing it can boast in, is that though afraid it continued its journey. God’s punchlines are all in good humor, but why not laugh with him in knowing that his joy is your strength (Neh 8:10) and that he knows the plans that he has for you are of good and not evil (Jer. 29:11). So go ahead and continue crossing the road, because in the end you’re doing it for one reason. To get to the other side with Christ.