God's Plan Q
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
“No one ever becomes who they were supposed to be. What really matters is making the most of who you are.” – Anonymous
Many years ago, I heard a pastor comment about a missionary who had recently returned from the field. Sadly, his return wasn’t for a furlough, but rather because he had what we delicately refer to in Christian circles as a “moral failure.”
The pastor, who is a great man of God, lamented that due to the missionary’s affair, he would never experience God’s “Plan A” for his life. That comment really stuck with me, so much so that I still remember it more than 20 years later.
My thoughts then – and my thoughts now – are that if God is truly sovereign (and He unquestionably is), then how could our sinning change His plans for our life? After all, since He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10 and Revelation 19:6); the “what, when, where, why, and how” of our sinning certainly doesn’t catch Him by surprise.
Yes, there are many instances in Scripture where a person’s disobedience resulted in an apparent change in his destiny. King Saul comes readily to mind along with Solomon and some others. However, there are an equal number of cases where God’s ultimate plan “trumped” a person’s disobedience. Take Jonah for example. God’s instructions in 1:2 and 3:2 are nearly identical, word for word, even though the former predates Jonah’s refusal to go to Nineveh and the latter follows it.
I am not a trained theologian and so, I will simply state the obvious. If my sinning kept God from accomplishing – and me enjoying – His perfect will for my life, then my “goose was cooked” a long time ago. In fact, instead of Plan A, I’d be on my second or third time through the alphabet by now.
In the meantime, I will simply try my best to obey God’s commands and lean on His grace and mercy when I inevitably fall short.
“Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” I Peter 4:8 (BSB)
“…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (BSB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
