An All-Encompassing Plan

The LORD works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster. --Proverbs 16:4


2006 has arrived. As many of us replace last year's calendar with a new one, we experience something of a feeling of relief. There on the page before us lie several empty spaces, each one unmarred by the touch of a pen. For a moment, we have a clean slate, a fresh start, and very little frustration over time misspent. We resolve to make every moment of this year count. No more wasting time. No more idling away the hours when we could be doing something productive.

Before long, we settle back into the routine of human nature. We are not as self-disciplined as we wish to be. Our self-serving attitudes prevent us from being the kind of people who never have any regrets. Fortunately, we do not need to give in to self-loathing because of our short-comings. Even in our most miserable failures, horrendous lapses in judgement, or just plain "off-days" God is still at work in our lives.

Christian or not, there is absolutely nothing we can do that derails God's plan for His people. He is the Sovereign ruler of the universe, the Creator of our hearts and minds, the great I Am. He knows and has known each of us before we were even conceived. He knows us intimately, as He does with all parts of His creation. Not a single thing happens here on earth that hasn't passed through God's fingers first.

We may not understand why things in His plan happen the way the do. For my part, all I can do is exercise my faith in His ways, and trust that His word is true. From the first dawn of creation, to the final days when Christ sets up His kingdom on earth, God's all encompassing plan is making the wheels of time and space come together in such a way that His glory will ultimately be revealed even among those who do not yet know His name.

He works out everything for His own ends. I am curious and excited to see what His plan has for me in 2006.