Tomorrow: God's Plan


What you say goes, Godand stays, as permanent as the heavens. 
   Your truth never goes out of fashion; it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.  Your Word and truth are dependable as ever; that's what you ordered—you set the earth going. 
(Psalm 119:89-91 The Message)

 89 Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven. 90 Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. 91 Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans.
(Psalm 119:89-91 New Living Translation)

We are about to embark on a new year - 2011 is coming to a close and 2012 is just ebbing its way into our view.  As I have grown older, time seems to pass faster.  The "ebbing" of a new day seems to be upon me before I even realize that the old one has passed me by!  There is one truth that endures through the passage of time - - God's Word is dependable!  For some, this goes without saying because they have adopted the Word of God as a standard by which they live their lives.  They have tested it and found it to be "a sure thing".  There is another truth that I think we might miss in this passage, but it is equally as important - - Everything serves God's plans!

As much as we can count on the "permanence" of God and what he says, we can count that nothing (absolutely nothing) escapes his purposes and plans for our lives.  This should give us hope that the events of yesterday prepared us for something we face today and the occurrences of today will prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow.  Sometimes we think events are "random", or that they could not serve any real purpose in our lives.  If we read what God says here, EVERYTHING serves his plans!

The most amazing thing to me is that we find the reliability of God's Word is often easier for us to trust than the assurance that God is at work in the midst of the present events of our day!  We doubt his "awareness" of our circumstances - - thinking that maybe these "events" have "popped up" without him really being "in the know" about them.  We can never forget the fact that God is divine - - he has no limitations when it comes to being all places at all times, knowing all things that are known, etc.  We have a hard time with these concepts because we are trying to grasp them from a purely "human" perspective.  

At best, we can catch a glimpse of the divine - - God giving us insight in a moment in time into the events, serving to bring us peace or assurance that all is in his hands.  We don't really "live in" the divine, so we have to learn to "trust in" the divine!  Trusting that he does have an awareness of everything that happens - - nothing escaping his plans.  

We don't know what a new year holds for us, but we do know this - - God has been in control all along, he remains in control today, and he has full control of tomorrow.  There are plans bigger than our understanding at work in our future - - all we can do is trust them to be "worked out" according to his "master plan".  We don't see the purpose in many things such as loss of loved ones, reduction in income, changes in friendships, or an unexpected illness.  In our "finite" minds we cannot conceive the plans God has in each of these events - - we can only trust the "infinite" perspective of his "BIG PICTURE" view of it all.

Here are some closing thoughts for our year:

- God has placed you in this season for a reason.  Each season serves a purpose.  Some are times of preparation, others are times of growth.  Still others seem like times of coldness and dormancy.  Even in those "dormant" seasons, there is work being done.  The ground of our hearts may seem cool and blanketed in darkness - - just beneath the surface, seeds have been planted and are just waiting to take root in just the right season.

- God has designed the friendships you have within this season.  They serve the purpose of helping you with the "labor" and the "rest" of the season you are experiencing.  You are not designed to face the seasons of life alone - - he has purposefully placed individuals in your life as companions in this walk.  

- God has provided for your future.  It may not be evident as you look through the "vision" of today, but he sees that "big picture" of what tomorrow will bring.  His "vision" is far better than Superman's - - he sees right through the present and into the future.  We need to trust the Lord to lead us by his hand.  He's marked out the path - - we simply need to follow it forward.

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