The sinking in 1912 of the Titanic with a loss of 1,513 lives is not, as most people seem to believe, the greatest sea disaster of all time. Far from it! It was dwarfed by the sinking, 33 years later, of the German vessel Wilhelm Gustloff, torpedoed in the Baltic Sea by the Russian submarine S-13. Close to 8,000 people drowned, most of them women and children -- more than five times the number of victims that went down with the Titanic. Perhaps the reason the Titanic has gotten more press is that it represented a failed hope -- the hope that man could build an unsinkable ship. He found that he could not.
The plans that we make are a vital ingredient to life. But, if our plans rest on shaky foundations, tragedy results. The Israelites lived this truth, when they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians. God, however, never gives up on His people. He told the prophet Jeremiah, "'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you', declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:11-14a NIV).
When it comes to proper planning, God always knows what is best for His people. Let us not plan our lives around material gains or other temporary satisfactions, but rather let us seek God with all our heart. It is only then when our greatest plans will come to be realized.
