Monday Morning Devotion-February 8, 2021

Plan B

"For I know the plans I have for you", declared the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you, not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

           Does it seem to you that we are living in Plan B times?  What percentage of your plans turn out just as expected or as you had hopefully anticipated?  That would be hard to determine but I imagine the percentage of that happening would be pretty low.  That's why we should always have a Plan B°just in case.

            The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that Plan B is: "an alternative plan of action for use if the original plan should fail."

            Sometimes our original plan(s) may not completely fail but may not be turning out the way we wanted.  We can stubbornly, even tenaciously, hang on to a plan that we have put a lot of time, thought and action into.  We may ride this Plan A right on into failure if we become unrealistic about its chances to succeed.    Or, if it is that important to us, we can formulate an alternate plan to pursue that will help bring about a positive outcome.

            Plan B may take the best of Plan A and supplement it with additional ideas and/or actions.  Or it may completely rework Plan A to the point where it is hardly recognizable. It may begin to look like a completely new Plan A altogether instead of a Plan B that has strengthened the original Plan.  Whatever!  If it works then, uh, do it.

            I checked the internet for Plan Bs.  My gosh there are a lot of them out there. Among the more interesting ones were in Film and Television a Plan B Entertainment.  This is a company founded by Brad Grey, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston to produce movies.  Three of their movies have won Academy Awards.  But in 2005 Pitt and Aniston divorced.  Oops.  Then, Plan B had to have a Plan B.        

            Four books with Plan B in the title have been published.  There is a Plan B free agency built into the National Football League structure for players who don't get drafted by a team and want to try to hook on somewhere.

            There is also: Plan B magazine; Plan B skateboards; Plan B toys and a Plan B advertising agency.

            The rock group Huey Lewis and the News released an album in 2001 called: "Plan B".  One of the songs on the album- "We're Not Here for Long: (We're Here for a Good Time) says:                  Some say the world is ending

                                    Who knows if it's true?

                                    Ain't no use in pretending

                                    There's not much we can do

                                    Leave a message for those who call

                                    We're out havin' us a ball

                                    We're not here for a long time

                                    We're here for a good time if the world is ending

                                    Who knows if it's true?

            I guess that Plan B song is saying: "Hey there is nothing we can do about anything so let's not worry about it.  Just have a good time."  Sounds unrealistic to me because well by nature I am somewhat of a worrier. I most always have, at least in the back of my mind,

 a Plan B.

            My faith tells me not to worry because I know the Lord is saying to me: "Hey Jim

Don't worry.  We got this."

            But, it's that old "free will" thing.  Sometimes it gets in the way because God is letting me choose.  Naturally some ideas or potential paths to follow have been dressed up to look better than they really are.  We have to be careful when we make a choice that it is really all it's cracked up to be. (dictionary definition: "If something is not all it's cracked up to be, that means it was a disappointment.  It failed to meet expectations.)

            Consequently, on the off chance that our human side is prevailing and our personal preference is taking preference over God's plan in a situation, we need to have a Plan B.  If it all works out that we are on the same page with the Lord, then it is easy to just drop Plan B.

            From past experience it has become obvious that if we are in sync with God's plan in a situation even if Plan A had to be revised and Plan B takes us along another path to success; it is worth it. 

            That sounds good and I'm sure it works often.  Heck!  Plan A might just work if it has been prayed over enough and well thought out.  If it's God's plan too that you are pursuing, then it's good as gold.

            Not to be discouraging because I like this neat little Plan A to Plan B success story, but there are times when just having a Plan B won't get it.  It depends on how solid that supplemental plan is. You may have to go into a Plan C, a Plan D, et al. and who knows how many and how long these alternate plans will take depending on the complications that arise.

            For now and for this devotion, suffice it to say that your best chance for success in any situation is to commit that Plan A to the Lord in prayer, seek his guidance and have a Plan B to go to if so directed.  It's the kind of teamwork between you and the Lord that works.

Prayer:  Lord thank you for always having a plan for us that we can access by supplementing Plan A with a good Plan B if we need to.   Amen!