Want to Hear God Laugh?

Want to Hear God Laugh?

Proverbs 19:21

Planning... making plans... is a major part of life, for all of us. We plan our education, careers, retirements, vacations... we even plan our worship services. Of course, there’s wisdom in careful planning... God’s Word actually commends diligence (Pro. 21:5). Yet our scripture for today reminds us that we don’t have the final say.

God gets the final say, right? He’s absolutely sovereign over all things. We make real choices and formulate actual plans, but behind and above every decision stands the eternal purposes of God. John Calvin wrote: “Nothing takes place by chance, but all things proceed from the eternal counsel of God.” Which means: Our calling, as followers of Christ, is to rest—not in our own wisdom—but in God’s divine providence.

The Bible never denies that we’re capable of making decisions. In fact, it says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart…” We have been given the “free will” to choose. We were created to think... to dream... to prepare... God has given us minds capable of planning.

Jesus even encouraged wise planning in is parable of the builders (Luke 14:28). One planned poorly, and built his house on sand, the other, wisely, building on rock! I can remember all the way back to primary Sunday school when I was a kid, learning the song “The Wise Man built his house upon the rock!” It’s a foundational (pardon the pun) story of faith. So foundational it’s taught to very young children.

Of course, in light of making our plans... we’d do well to remember... our planning is imperfect, at best. It’s incomplete, and often self-serving. If fact, the old saying is, “If you wanta hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!”

It’s a truth echoed in the Epistle of James 4:13... when he says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city’… Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” None of us can see the future, can we? Only God can see the whole horizon.

Our plans are always made with limited knowledge. But God sees what we cannot. God alone knows every tomorrow.

And that’s why we can trust, that, “…it’s the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

The Hebrew word translated “purpose” implies God’s settled, established, eternal design. In other words, as our life plays out, the choices we make and the final outcome surrounding those choices, is not some kind of “knee-jerk” reaction by God in response to our decisions.

God’s Will and His plans are eternal... His divine authority was established before time began, and His eternal Will proceeds with or without our cooperation.

God’s Word declares “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)... Likewise,

“The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be.’” (Isaiah 14:24)

Nothing surprises God. Nothing interrupts His plan.

“God, from all eternity, did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.” (Westminster Confession)

Of course, we want it to be one or the other. So much so that we have major denominations of the Christian Faith that stand on opposing sides! One group shouting “It’s all about Free Will” the other insisting “It’s all about God’s Will.”

And the fact is: Scripture holds together both truths:

Human beings act willingly - AND - God sovereignly governs everything. But having said that... am I willing to trust my will over God’s will. NO way! Because God’s will trumps my will, and your will, every time.

Joseph (as in Joseph and his coat of many colors) understood this. After his brothers had plotted to kill him; eventually selling him into slavery... God was working out His greater plan. And during a famine, when his brothers found themselves in Egypt (looking for food), they found themselves standing before Joseph, seeking his help... Joseph told his brothers... “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)

The same event had two intentions: One based on the will of man. The other founded in God’s divine goodness.

Of course, God’s greatest purpose is revealed in Christ. There’s no more definitive proof of God’s sovereign will than the Cross.

The Jewish leaders planned. Pilate planned. Judas planned. The soldiers planned. Satan planned. Yet, the eternal purpose of God stood above it all!

Peter, the Apostle, preached: “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge…” (Acts 2:23) The cross was not an accident. It was not Plan B. It was God’s eternal decree before the foundation of the world. The greatest evil ever committed became the greatest display of God’s mercy and grace.

And the good news is, because God governed Calvary, He certainly governs our lives. The Lord’s purpose prevails! That’s a promise of mercy to the faithful!

Our lesson for today wasn’t handed down to us to simply teach doctrine. It is meant to comfort us as God’s people. Charles Spurgeon said: “There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty.”

We make plans. Sometimes they work out as expected, sometimes not so much! Jobs disappear. Health declines. Relationships change. Dreams are broken. Yet God’s purpose never fails.

Romans 8:28 reminds us: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…” Not some things. Not pleasant things. All things. Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Every circumstance serves His purpose.

So we make our plans, and there’s nothing wrong with doing so... But... if we’ll think back to James for just a moment... he tells us in chapter 4:15, that as we make our plans, we should ALWAYS say, “If it’s the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Our hope rests not in the success of our plans... but in the assurance that we have a sovereign Savior, Whose plans are always best.

The gospel assures us that the God who governs the universe is the same God who loved us enough to send His Son. Since He ordained our salvation through Christ, we can trust Him with every unanswered question and every uncertain tomorrow. For God’s purposes never fail.