I had a plan for today. It began like this: Make coffee, straighten up the house, drink a cup of coffee while catching up on some reading, take a shower, take the dog for a short walk, and start editing this post. But as I was putting the leash on the dog for our morning walk, the phone rang. It was my daughter, who wanted to know if I would watch my granddaughter while she shopped for groceries.
And just like that, my plan for the day changed. A few tasks from today’s to-do list will undoubtedly be put off until tomorrow.
God’s Plan for the Universe
God has a plan, too. Before he created our world, he decided what was going happen in it. He scripted its history from the moment of creation on into eternity.
The section on God’s eternal decree in the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it like this:
God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass … .
God’s eternal decree is his all-encompassing plan for the universe. That God ordains something simply means that he planned for it to happen. According to the WCF, in eternity past, God planned everything that has already occurred, everything that is occuring right now, and everything that will occur in the future.
The Westminster Divines took this truth from scripture. God’s plan is mentioned in Ephesians 1:11:
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will … . (ESV)
The counsel of God’s will is his plan for the course of history and, writes Paul, he works everything according to this plan. Whatever you call it—his decree, or purpose, or plan, or counsel—God has one. And he’s unfailingly bringing it to pass.
God’s Plan and My Plan
There are ways my plan for today is like God’s plan. For instance, I chose tasks and events to put on my list, and I had reasons to include each one. I had a few small goals and my plan is the blueprint for achieving them.
God has goals, too, or to say it in the language of scripture, he has purposes. His plan was chosen to accomplish these purposes. His overarching purpose is to display his own glory (Romans 11:36). He created the universe to declare his glory (Psalm 19:1) He saves sinners “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:3-14). Everything in his plan, which includes every event in the unfolding history of the universe, works toward the goal of making God’s glory known..
But my plan is different than God’s plan in so many ways that they’re not really comparable. I tried to be wise when I planned, but some of the choices I made may be foolish in hindsight. God, on the other hand, has perfect wisdom, so from the start, his plan was perfect for accomplishing his purposes.
And everything in my plan depends on circumstances I can’t control or foresee, so my plan will undoubtedly change as the day progresses. But God controls everything and knows everything, so nothing can foil his plan. His plan never needs to change. He knows how to prearrange a chain of causes and effects to achieve his ends, and he has the power to unfold those those causes and effects so that his purpose is accomplished.
God’s Plan for My Life
If God planned everything, then he planned my life, too. To use the language of my favorite psalm, every single day of my life was written in God’s book before I existed (Psalm 139:16). Right now, God is unfolding his plan for my life, working in every circumstance to conform me to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). His work of sanctification fulfills his ultimate purpose, too, by showing his glory, especially the glory of his grace (Ephesians 2:4-10).
As I edit this paragraph, my day is ending. I moved several items from today’s list to tomorrow’s. As usual, my day didn’t go exactly as I planned. But I know one thing for certain: My day went exactly as God planned it way back in eternity past.
This truth gives me comfort and hope. It means no matter how I feel about my day (or week, or year), everything is in control—God’s control. He rules over every one of my days, even those that have catastrophic events in them. Everything is always working according to his plan; every circumstance is accomplishing his purpose. There is glorious meaning in every minute and in every situation.
I can’t know all of God’s reasons for any particular circumstance, but I do know that the ultimate purpose for every circumstance in my life is God’s glory. What’s more, God is working in everything to remake those who love him into the image of Christ. Everything that happens works to make them more like Christ. And for those who love God these reasons are sufficient.
Previous posts in this series:
- 16 Truths You Should Know: God Has Spoken
- 16 Truths You Should Know: God Is One and God Is Three
- 16 Truths You Should Know: God Is Who He Is
Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 3:30AM 