Sometimes I think I know better than God. There are times when I believe that I know exactly what should happen in a given situation, and I pray for exactly that outcome. When the answer to my prayers is "no" and things don't go according to my plan, I doubt God's sovereignty and his plan. In the times when the answer is "no" I begin to doubt if God actually hears my prayers and I doubt whether he actually is working towards the good of his people. I forget that I am only seeing a minuscule part of a massive and intricate picture. I forget that I am not the center of the universe.
There is a person in my life whom I have been praying for fervently. I believe that I know exactly what this person needs (apart from a true relationship with Jesus) and I have been praying for my plan for this person to come to fruition. I have found Scripture to pray through for this person that I think justify my perspective. A couple of weeks ago a situation arose in this person's life and I truly believed that my plan was about to be enacted in this person's life. I actually thanked God for the situation because it meant that what I thought should happen would happen. Then God answered my prayers with a great big resounding, "NO".
In the days that followed I questioned God. I just could not understand how he could tell me "no" when clearly my plan was the best thing for this person. As I talked to other people connected to the situation we all talked about how it was hard to see God' sovereignty. Because I could not see the bigger plan, I chose to believe that God had dropped the ball. My arrogance and sin kept me from seeing God's grace in the life of this person.
How often do we chose to question God rather than trust him? How often do we chose anger over being told "no" rather than rejoicing in our God's sovereignty? How often do we believe the lie that we are God?
The truth of the matter is that I am not God. It is not up to Lisa Tant to keep the universe moving. It is not up to Lisa Tant to bring about the ultimate plan of our great God. It is not up to you either! Our plans cannot compare to the big beautiful plan that God has had in place since the beginning of time. That is a truth that is really difficult to grasp, but it is a beautiful truth worth clinging to.
God has had an ultimate, complete plan since BEFORE the beginning of time.
Psalm 139:16 - "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."
Isaiah 46:9b-10 - "for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose,"
Our God created the whole universe by simply speaking it into existence for the sole purpose of bringing glory to himself. God put into play, from the beginning, a beautiful salvation plan that calls his people to himself. Our God is at work and who are we to question his great plan?
When I begin to question God's goodness and sovereignty in the plans of my life, I remind myself of the story of Job. Job was a good, righteous man who feared the Lord and Satan attacked him and caused him great suffering. We, the readers, are able to see the greater plan at play in this story, but Job was never given that privilege. He only knew his current suffering and yet he still trusted in the goodness of his God. I love the end of Job, chapter 38 to the end. The Lord speaks into Job's situation, not with a great revelation of the plan at play, but simply by saying, "who are you?" Basically God says to Job, "were you there when I created everything? Are you able to control time? Do you possess the ability to control any part of creation?" God does not reveal his plan to Job, but simply establishes that he has a plan.
We need to remember that God is in control and we have done nothing to earn knowledge of that plan. We cannot comprehend the thoughts of God and we are foolish to think that we can come up with a plan that can outdo God.
Job 42:2 - "I know that you can do all things, and that no plan of yours can be thwarted."
Isaiah 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
God is in control, and that is all we need to know.
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