NCAA March Madness brings out the strategic planner in nearly every sports fan. Watching the games, analyzing the statistics and picking the teams, sports fanatics create their brackets.

Once the games begin, so does the madness. Fans obsess over their brackets.

Sports bettors go crazy during March Madness, strategically wagering on the 68 NCAA basketball games.

Friends compete with one another to see whose brackets survive the longest.

Emotions are high as basketball fans anxiously watch the games, hoping they were correct in their predictions.

Once the inevitable happens and their “perfect” brackets fall apart, disappointed fans take to social media to express their frustration.

The bettors experience the crushing feeling of losing their precious money.

Who would’ve thought that so much research, planning, time, emotion and money would be involved in a game—basketball.

Bracket makers try their best to predict the outcomes of the games. But it’s impossible to do so.

With the many variables associated with how a team performs, no one can guarantee which teams will come out on top.

This is life—unpredictable. Oftentimes, we try our best to predict how our lives will turn out.

It’s in our nature to plan. Most of us grew up with plans to become nurses, teachers, firefighters, astronauts or U.S. presidents.

As we grew, we continued to plan, deciding which colleges to attend and which fields to study to best reach our dream jobs.

We make plans to take all the right classes, intern at the right places and network with the right people.

Sometimes we think we have it all figured out.But pretty soon, something happens that completely turns our plans upside down. 

It’s in these moments that we realize life cannot be planned to the T.

It’s also during these times that we realize who is in control—God, not us.

Nothing takes God by surprise. We, on the other hand, can be surprised by a game of NCAA basketball.

How blessed we are to serve an all-knowing God.

We are saved from the stress and disappointment of trusting in manmade plans. As God’s children, we can fully trust Him to plan our lives according to His will and what He deems best for us.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end,” Jeremiah 29:11 says.