A God Who Plans The Future

Have you ever been surprised by how your day turned out? We do our best to plan ahead, but there are times when those plans mean absolutely nothing. I remember one time when I was a kid, and my parents had just bought a new car. I remember it was a Toyota minivan, and it was from a dealership that was on the corner of Texas Ave. and Coulter Dr. in Bryan. The whole family was there, my parents signed all the papers, they were handed the keys, and it was time to drive home. My dad had his truck and was driving that home while my mom loaded up in the new van. I remember wanting to ride with my mom because it was a new car, and new cars are exciting and fun. My mom pulled the van out of the dealership parking lot and turned left on Coulter Dr. so she could turn on Texas Ave. There was a stop light and we were behind a couple of other cars waiting for the red light to turn. Then, all of a sudden, a car came behind us and ran into the back of the brand new van. They hit us from behind which then caused us to hit the people in front of us. We had just pulled it out of the parking lot! Thankfully it wasn’t serious and no one was hurt, but that was not what anyone expected to happen. That’s not how it is supposed to happen, it’s a brand new vehicle, at least give it a week or something.

Life is unpredictable. While we are often surprised, God is never surprised. As we begin to close out this time of Christmas, we remember that God had a plan. After the very first sin He said a Savior would come born from a woman. Several thousand years later that promise was fulfilled in the Word made flesh, Jesus. The birth of a Savior was not the only plan God had. One day all of this will end and the Earth with be burned with fire and we will have to make an account at the Judgment Seat of God. If we have dedicated our lives to God and followed Jesus then we will be with God forever and ever in the New Heaven and New Earth.

Let’s read and talk about God’s plan and how He worked it through to completion. I have two passages I want us to look at today, the first is from Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet to the people of Judah during a tumultuous time. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had already been wiped out because of their disobedience, and now Judah was facing the might of the Babylonians. Judah had dealt treacherously with the Babylonians and were facing the consequences. Nebuchadnezzar was intent to take Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. God had actually given Judah into the hands of the Babylonians because He was disciplining them and saving His remnant. The king and people of Judah did not listen to Jeremiah and words of God but were intent to do what they wanted to do. One thing was Jeremiah told them to stop worshiping the queen of heaven. They simply responded, “No, we’re going to keep worshiping the queen of heaven.” It was a crazy time and a period of exile was imminent, but through it all God was working. Through Jeremiah God declared His plan for the future.

Jeremiah 31:7–14 ESV

For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.”

Without the background of Jeremiah this word can just sound like good things that God will do. However, when we look at the utter despair of the people in that time this word is hope and a future. God says He will “turn their mourning into joy”, “the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old shall be merry“, that His “people shall be satisfied with my goodness.” Aren’t those wonderful words to hear in times of turmoil. When all seems lost and there is no escape, God is working out His plan, and His plan is for His people to be satisfied with His goodness.

It’s important to mention that though God has a plan things in the world will still be crazy. In this passage from Jeremiah God is declaring hope but there will be languishing and mourning. One day the world will be set right when Jesus returns for righteous judgment. Until that time we live in a world that is corrupt and against the ways of God.

But here is the good news, with God there is always good news. God promised this future in spite of a crazy world. The ways of the world do not stop God from working. Let’s talk about the fulfillment of this word to see more of how God fulfills His promises.

There was another time in the history of the people of Israel, roughly over 500 years after Jeremiah. God had brought His remnant back to the land of Judea and they acted as they typically did by not obeying God. One of the differences was at this point the people of Israel finally stopped worshiping other gods, but unfortunately they worshiped the letter of the Law over the heart of the Law. Other conquering countries came and went, but Rome was in control at this point. Rome was such a vast and powerful empire, and while there was some good that came from a Roman rule, there was a lot that was not good. So we have Israel under the rule of another country and the religious leaders of Israel being more interested in their own righteousness and influence. Yet, it was in this time God saw fit to put the next plan of action in place. We read about this in John.

John 1:1–18 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Through the prophets, through the Law, even before the Law and the prophets God promised His salvation. This God, the One True God, who was there in the beginning, who created all things, who in Him was the life and light of all people, came to us in the flesh to save us and bring us life. We have first hand witnesses of the Word of God made flesh in Jesus. They saw there was something different. Jesus was not just a good man, he was even better than the prophets of old, in Him was something different, something special, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

It was roughly 6,000 years from the time Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden. From that time there was a world wide flood, nations rose and fell, people were scattered, people were abused and in slavery, there were famines and wars, yet through it all God was working His plan of salvation. We have this promise of salvation throughout the Old Testament, they were speaking of a time yet to come. We have the blessing of that time of salvation being here and now. Jesus has come, Jesus did die for our sins, and Jesus rose again defeating hell and death. Jesus is now at the Father’s side were He is interceding for us and continuing to be our Great High Priest.

Jesus didn’t come to remove us from the world but that we could have His life in the midst of this world. I think it is important for us to remember the tumultuous times of the past, those of Jeremiah and the times that Jesus was born in to because we are currently in tumultuous times. Sometimes we can look around and ask where God is, why He continues to allow these crazy things to happen. Yet we look and see that through all the craziness of the world God continues to move and work His plan of salvation, not just for us but for all those who will believe.

So we look at this new year that is upon us, 2022. Who can say what will happen? We don’t even know what the next hour holds in store. But there is one thing we know and can be sure of, God is working. The God who does know the future, the God who promised His salvation thousands of years before it happened, the God who promised us a future beyond this world. The Word who was at the beginning and created it all has come and has provided us His salvation, His joy, His peace, His life, His grace upon grace.

How now shall we live our lives? Let me give you one more story.

Several years ago Rebekah and I were on a date. We were pastoring at Cooks Point at the time and got a babysitter and headed to Bryan. I honestly don’t remember what I had planned for the date, but I do remember it didn’t work out. I like having plans and for those plans to actually work out. Here we were in this busy time in our lives and were able to carve out an evening to ourselves, and it didn’t work out. I was frustrated and at a loss as to what to do. We were driving back through downtown Bryan, I was racking my brain trying to think of something to do, and then Rebekah said exactly what needed to be said. She’s good at that. She turned to me and said, “I don’t care what we do, I just want to be with you.” I thought that was great, but time with me was about to end short because I couldn’t think of anything to do! What she said was good and my aim was to make her happy. If being with me made her happy then the date was a success. It was about that time we were driving through downtown and there was a band playing at the Palace Theater. I have no idea who the band was the music sounded pretty good and we both enjoy music, especially live music. With a renewed hope for the date, I quickly found a parking space and we went to theater and enjoyed the beautiful evening and the band that was playing.

My point with that story is this, God came, the Word was made flesh so we could be with Him and He with us. God’s desire is for us to be His people and He to be our God. The good news is that we can be with God every moment of every day. Even on those days we are driving off the lot with a new vehicle and we get in a wreck, God is with us. Even those days when you get a phone call that effects the rest of your day, God is with you. Even those times when it seems like our country may be doomed and we don’t know what we can do about it, God is with us.

One way we remember God’s work and promises is in keeping our traditions and practices of faith. When we commit to being faithful to read His word, to pray, to come to church and worship together, to fellowship with one another, to reach out to the hurting around us, we are orienting our life to the kingdom of God. Some days we may not feel like it or think it’s doing anything, but I think it is even more important on those days. Orienting our life to the work of God in us and in the world reminds us again, and again, and again of who God is and what He has done. This week as we open our doors for a special time of prayer is a wonderful time to orient our lives to God.

Today I want to remind you that while we may not know the future and surprises are sure to come, God is still God. He knows precisely what is going on in your life and what you need and is there to give you the grace needed. I want to remind you to trust in Him. This is the God who created the world and worked out His plan for salvation over thousands of years and is continuing to work in our lives and in the world. Not everything that happens in the world is God’s plan, much of it is a consequence of sin. However, God continues to bring light to the darkness.

Today I also want to challenge you to be present with God every moment of every day. When things are going great and it’s a wonderful day, and those days we’re not sure how we’re going to make it through, take a moment to lift your eyes to God, give Him thanks, and put your life in His hands. I also challenge you to be the light of Christ in the world around us.

The God who created you, knit you together in your mother’s womb, loves you, wants to be with you, and wants to give you ever good gift. Let us surrender our lives to Him and see His promise fulfilled in our life.