Man proposes, God disposes.  (Or, as the old Yiddish proverb says, Man plans, God laughs.)

This is a translation from a passage in “The Imitation of Christ” by the German-born, Thomas à Kempis (c.1380-1471): For the resolutions of the just depend rather on the grace of God than on their own wisdom; and in Him they always put their trust, whatever they take in hand.  For man proposes, but God disposes; neither is the way of man in his own hands.  This may be a reflection of a verse in the Bible (Proverbs 16:9): We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.  Shakespeare, too, had a similar message in Hamlet by Hamlet: There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.

Human beings can make any plans they want, but it’s God who decides success or failure.  Can you imagine what would have…