God has a plan. If I’ve heard that once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. In fact, I’ve said it myself many times. I believe it. God does have a plan…for everything. The Bible is clear, God is personal and He is in control. Proverbs 19:21 says Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. The fact surrounding God’s sovereignty is solid, but I must say our observation of world events often declares the opposite. We find ourselves thinking “everything is out of control.”
As I write this blog, Russia invaded the country of Ukraine just a few hours ago. The world is in turmoil. “What’s going to happen?” “What’s the future hold for them and (if we’re honest) for me and my family?” I’m reminded of a message I heard from John Piper some time ago. In so many words he said, “When nations came to do their absolute worst, namely the murder of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, they had not slipped out of God’s control, but were doing his sweetest bidding at their worst moment.” That’s a powerful statement.
That statement is rooted in Peter’s words before the leadership of the day in Jerusalem. “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” The worst sin that you can imagine was in God’s plan so that salvation would be available through the death of Jesus Christ.
So what do we do? First, grieve over the self-centered actions of mankind and our culture. Secondly, be calm in the middle of days of great calamity and upheaval because victory and the future belong to God and no purpose of his will can be stymied.