A pesky cold, a serious disease, an overheated engine, a family crisis, a preparation oversight, someone else’s mistake, my own failure, a selfish plot, a jealous scheme, even death – all of these are just some of the things that can thwart the best of human plans. In an instant, the best of intentions can be brought to nothing.
How diametrically different are the eternal plans of God Almighty! Not one iota of a single plan of God can ever be stopped. Not one. For God, there are no unexpected illnesses, no mechanical failures, no tragedies, no storms, no lack of preparation, no episodes of exhaustion, no encounters with death, and no human sins that could ever challenge His power. With a single breath, He can blow any circumstance in the direction that fulfills His plan.
Amazingly, the man we most often identify as one who suffered the widest range of human tragedy, Job, said of His Lord, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2, NASB)
For those of us who posit the existence of the God of the Bible, we must also acknowledge His ability to accomplish exactly what He wills; for the God of the Bible is all-powerful, present everywhere, and all-knowing. As the Creator, He stands infinitely far above His creation. Commanding natural things do His bidding without question, not even willful, human rebellion against Him ever stood a chance; for, God Himself came down to earth and suffered His own wrath as the cure for sin.
God can do all things. Hear those words, “God can do all things.” He can take every single moment of time – and every single circumstance of the combined lives of all people – and command these moments and these circumstances to stand at attention and accomplish His ultimate design.
So, let them come. Let the surprising, disappointing, maddening, ridiculous, heartbreaking, and gravely annoying circumstances of life come. No plan of God’s will be thwarted.
My responsibility is to be sure – unmistakably sure – that my plans are wrapped in the plans of God. “Lord, let me think your thoughts, abide by your Word, have your heart, renounce all pride, and keep my eyes fixed on You; for anything I plan outside of You will be stopped. But, Your plans go on into eternity completely unscathed. Amen.”