The Best Laid Plans

How many of you are planners? I believe most women are, even if they are not the most organized or they aren't list makers. We like to think things through, have an idea of what's coming our way in order to be prepared. Has your mind ever been too busy at bedtime for you to shut it down and drift off to sleep? Have you woken in the wee hours of the morning with that mental list flapping away in your head, unable to snooze again due to the way you're wired?

I've been thinking about the ladies who followed Jesus to his crucifixion and then to his grave. What a different ending then they had expected when their journey with him began and the devastation they must have felt would have been overwhelming. What could be done to change the outcome or to make things better? I know they must have been feeling the need to do just that...make things better. The only thing left to them was to care for Jesus' body in the best way they knew how. They began to prepare.

Luke 23:55-56 says, The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. They they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

What a long day that must have been for them, waiting to go and anoint the body of their beloved Jesus, but they must not break the Sabbath. I found myself wondering what must have been going through their minds as they anticipated making that walk to the tomb, finding someone to roll back the stone and then lovingly perfuming their Master's bruised and beaten body. Did Mary M have a list? Did Salome wake in the night wondering if Mary the mother of James was bringing the linen she had been assigned? What about Joanna's special spice blend? Would she have enough? Perhaps they would not even be allowed to enter the tomb and then what would they do? Can't you see their minds spinning with the plans...just like we do now when we are worrying over what will be?

Finally the first day of the week arrived! Whew...you know they were up with the sun. Scriptures tell us that very early, just after sunrise they set out. Moss didn't grow on these girls! No sir, when women have a plan it's better to go along with them or get out of the way! God had a surprise for them, though, and it came with the discovery of the empty tomb and the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

What did I learn from these ladies? I learned that no matter how many lists I make and how much I plan, the Lord has a better way than I can even dream of. I can make all the lists in the world and involve all sorts of other people, yet when it comes down to it, God will provide the most awesome outcome, the one that will renew my faith and bring Him Glory.