On Sunday nights, my wife and I do our meal planning. We look ahead at our schedule for the week and decide when we will do the grocery shopping, what we will buy, and when we will cook our meals. And then, most weeks, our plans fall apart. Sometimes, a situation beyond our control arises. Other times, our own mistakes get in the way, and we are left searching through our kitchen, hoping we’ll find something we can prepare at the last minute.
In today’s readings, we are repeatedly reminded that the plans of human beings consistently fall apart. After having sold him into slavery, Joseph’s brothers now find themselves begging him for food. Gripped by famine, they are unknowingly at the mercy of the youngest sibling they betrayed. When sending his disciples out to preach the Good News, Jesus instructs them to search for those who are lost.
Hunger reminds us that we are not self-sufficient. Similarly, being lost reminds us that we are fallible. Despite our best efforts to prepare ourselves, our designs are often foiled, and we are left longing for the help of a kind stranger. As today’s psalm reminds us, God sees us with eyes of mercy, ready to deliver us from famine and guide us back home. It is important to plan, but it is even more important to trust in the guidance of God. The question for us is: Can we let go of our plans and be guided by those God sends to help us?
