“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.” (Genesis 44:16)
The wedding guests were in place. The grandparents were properly seated in the second row. The mother of the bride had just been escorted to the first row, across the aisle from the groom’s mother and dad. The air was filled with the kind of indescribable excitement that only a wedding can bring.
This was especially true for me since I was the dad at the back of the church with our daughter Missy on my arm. She had waited a lifetime for this moment.
The pastor and Jon Schrader, our future son-in-law, were preparing to enter the church from one of the sanctuary’s front doors on the organist’s cue. They checked to be sure everything was in place. It was, including the wireless microphone clipped to the minister’s robe. Unfortunately, the minister didn’t know that the mic was on!
“Well, Jon,” Reverend Mark DeVries joked to the anxious groom, “You can still back out.” Of course, neither man had any idea that this private conversation was being broadcast to almost six hundred people. The congregation held its collective breath.
“No way,” was all Jon said.
An audible snicker passed over the seated guests like a wave. My wife sighed in relief. The color returned to the faces of Jon’s parents.
Has this ever happened to you? You have done everything in your power to do the right thing. No stone is left unturned. In your opinion, your plan is as perfect as a plan could be. Nothing could have described our daughter’s wedding better than this. But in spite of all of this detailed planning, the technician in the sound booth turned the microphone on too early. It could have been an embarrassing disaster.
Joseph’s brothers had followed his instructions to perfection. They had done everything exactly as they were told to do. But at his master’s command, Joseph’s servant had slipped a silver chalice into Benjamin’s sack of grain, and now these men were being accused of stealing—and they weren’t guilty. So they returned to Egypt and threw themselves at Joseph’s feet, begging for his mercy.
Isn’t it interesting that, even though they were not guilty of this particular charge, they knew they still needed forgiveness. Because of other things they had done—selling their brother like a used car, for one—they still needed Joseph’s mercy.
Regardless of how well you and I have planned, something will probably go wrong. One of those little unexpected things will pop up, and we’ll be faced with a little—or a substantial—detour.
Our merciful heavenly Father has a little message for us. In spite of the seeming flawlessness of our plans, something will develop a glitch. Count on it. And the lesson to be learned is the one these men learned that day. Perfection is unachievable. God’s mercy is always necessary for our inescapable waywardness . . . impeccable plans and all.