Ultimate Security: Finding a Refuge in Difficult Times (4 page)

So totally accurate and reliable are the movements of the stars that astronomers can compute mathematically where each star was located thousands of years ago and where it will be situated thousands of years from now. But let us never attribute this precision to some mindless, impersonal force or “law.” Behind it all is the infinite wisdom of a Creator whose concern extends to the remotest corner of His universe.

Furthermore, the psalmist tells us
how
God controls the stars:
“He…calls them each by name”
(Psalm 147:4). In the Bible, a name expresses the essential individual character of the person or object named. To God, even the stars are not mere mindless conformations of matter to be identified only by location or magnitude. Each has its own name. And each responds to that name when God calls it.

God Controls the Course of Human History

There was a great Gentile ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who had a head-on encounter with the power and wisdom of God. When Nebuchadnezzar declared his own greatness and self-sufficiency, God humbled him so that, for seven years, he was forced to act like a beast. The Scriptures tell us that Nebuchadnezzar went naked in the fields, eating grass, and that his hair and nails grew out like the feathers and talons of birds. Later, after Nebuchadnezzar had learned his lesson, God restored his sanity and his kingdom to him. (See Daniel 4:4–37.) Here is how Nebuchadnezzar summed up the lesson he had learned about the true God, the Lord:

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” (Daniel 4:34–35 nkjv)

In this declaration, Nebuchadnezzar recognized the following truth: God is totally sovereign in the affairs of human beings. All kingdoms, all nations, and all governments are answerable to Him. He disposes of them according to His wisdom. He raises them up, and He puts them down. He enlarges them and then reduces them again. God is in total control.

Human history is not a series of unplanned events that no one understands and no one controls. Behind it all is the same Person who is behind the whole universe: God, the Creator of the stars and the Creator of man.
“No one can restrain His hand,”
Nebuchadnezzar said,
“or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
No one can frustrate God’s plan.

This same truth is applied to nations in Psalm 33:

The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

Ultimately, all history will evidence the outworking of God’s eternal purpose. There is no force in human history that can resist or frustrate the plan of God.

God Controls the Destinies of Individuals

God’s total control—in the very best sense of the word—applies as well to individuals. In the book of Job, we read how Job was permitted to go through tremendous trials and sufferings. In the end, however, Job had a personal revelation of the living God that was more valuable than all the wealth he had lost. Indeed, that personal revelation made his sufferings seem insignificant in comparison. After receiving the revelation, Job declared to the Lord,
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted”
(Job 42:2).

When you and I come to the same place that Job did—where we truly understand that God can do all things and that no plan of His can ever be thwarted—there is really no more room for worry or alarm. The knowledge that God can do all things should give us total peace and security, because we who believe in Christ are a part of His plan. Paul made this clear in his letter to the Ephesians:

In [Jesus Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of [God] who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. (Ephesians 1:11)

Please lay hold of this statement:
“
[God]
works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
Nothing is outside His control. Nothing slips through His fingers. He forgets nothing. He overlooks nothing. He is perplexed by nothing. He never has an emergency. Everything is under His control.

Furthermore, if you believe in Jesus Christ, everything in your life is designed to fulfill God’s sovereign, eternal plan for you. Paul made this truth abundantly plain:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

It does not matter what happens in your life. You may encounter disappointments, frustrations, trials, and dangers. But, behind it all, you can know for certain that God is working everything together for your good.

People often use the above familiar verse in some general sense to mean that everything always turns out all right. However, for that to be fully true, we have to meet three conditions:

1. We must love God—this promise applies only to those who love God.
   

2. We must be called by God. This means that we must know what God has called us to be and to do.
   

3. We must be walking in God’s purpose for us.
   

The good news is that if you and I fulfill these three conditions, we know that God causes everything that happens to us to work together for our good.

In summary: God controls the stars. He controls human history. He controls the lives of individuals. Above all, He controls and works out His purposes in the lives of those of us who love Him and who believe in Jesus Christ.

When we understand that God can do all things
and that none of His plans can be thwarted,
there is no room for worry or alarm.

God has a good plan for each of us, and He will see it through to the end. No one can frustrate that plan. This is total security in God!

Perhaps you have been struggling in life as a result of not knowing that God is in control. You may not have realized how much the Lord desires to direct the affairs and outcomes of your life. Perhaps you have never acknowledged these truths, but you desire to do so now. In response, would you pray this simple prayer with me now?

Dear Lord, in recognition of the truths I have just read, I want to make the following declarations: You are in control of the universe; You are in control of human history; You are in control of present world events; and, most of all, You are in control of the destiny of each person You have created—including me.

With this prayer, I recognize Your loving care and direction in my life. I renew my commitment to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I affirm Your word for me as a believer. I love You, Lord. I believe I am called by You, and I express my intention to walk in Your purposes for me. Because that is true, You are working everything in my life for the good of Your purposes for me.

I take my hands off the reins of my life, and I turn them fully over to You. I thank You, Lord, that You are now in control of every aspect of my life. Amen.

1. Derek Prince,
Through the Psalms with Derek Prince
(Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books [a division of Baker Book House Company], 1983, 2002), 210.

6

SEVEN STAGES IN
GOD’S PLAN

In the previous chapter, we were able to see how everything in our lives is working out God’s plan for us, as long as we meet His conditions. Just to affirm that truth, let us turn again to Romans 8:28, using a different Bible translation:
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”
(nasb). In the two verses that follow Romans 8:28, Paul describes how God goes about working His plan into each of our lives. Paul shows us that there are seven successive stages in the outworking of God’s purposes:

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:29–30 nasb)

These, then, are the seven successive stages in the conception and outworking of God’s plan:

1. God foreknew us.
   

2. God chose us.
   

3. God predestined us.
   

4. God called us.
   

5. God saved us.
   

6. God justified us.
   

7. God glorified us.
   

A Complete Picture

To get a more complete idea of these stages in God’s plan and how they relate to one another, we need to combine the above passage from Romans with two other portions of Scripture from the New Testament. When we put all these verses together, we will see the significance of the seven successive stages in God’s total plan.

Let’s begin to get a fuller picture by looking at a passage from the book of Ephesians:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. (Ephesians 1:3–5 nasb)

Here, the same truths we saw earlier are set forth: God has a plan, He is working it out, and we who believe in Jesus are the very center of that plan. Amazing though it may seem, God’s eternal design actually revolves around us. In describing the fulfillment of that plan, Paul added a stage that he did not mention in Romans 8. In Ephesians 1:4, we read,
“
[God]
chose us in Him
[Christ]
before the foundation of the world.”

God chose us in Christ. It is important for us to realize that this choice did not take place in time, or at some point in human history. God made this choice before the foundation of the world! That is a staggering thought—one that we will unfold more fully a little later. In the list I laid out above, I slotted this truth in second place among the seven stages, because, like the first point, it also occurred in eternity.

Amazing though it may seem,
God’s eternal design actually revolves around us.

There is one other point from the Bible that adds to our picture of the seven stages of God’s complete plan. In the following passage from 2 Timothy, we see that, as part of His plan, God
saved
us. (In natural sequence, I placed this act of God in fifth position.)

God…has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. (2 Timothy 1:8–9 nasb)

Like the emphasis in the Ephesians verses, Paul underscored to Timothy that God’s plan did not begin in time but in eternity. His plan was not an afterthought—an emergency strategy He devised when problems began to develop with humanity. Rather, God’s plan was conceived and settled in His mind before He inaugurated history. As we saw above, the
New American Standard Bible
translates this concept as
“…from all eternity.”
The
New King James Version
says,
“…before time began.”

We need a different perspective—an eternal perspective—about ourselves and our circumstances. We must look away from our present problems, irritations, and worries. We need to, as Isaiah said,
“lift
[our]
eyes and look to the heavens…
[to]
the starry host”
(Isaiah 40:26). We need to ponder the One who created and controls the universe. We need to see that the God who controls all is the same God who has a plan that He is working out in our lives. We need to see that He is so gracious and so wonderful that, through His precious Word, He reveals to us the way this plan is going to be carried out.

The Seven Stages

If we put together the various passages of Scripture we have just considered, we can understand the seven successive stages of God’s plan in their natural order. Let us review these stages in preparation for exploring them in greater detail in coming chapters.

1. God Foreknew Us

First, God foreknew us. He has total knowledge, a fact that we will examine more closely in the next chapter. God bases everything on His knowledge. You may ask, regarding a particular circumstance, “How did God know that it would all work out that way?” God is aware of everything. The past, the present, and the future alike are known to Him. It is extremely important to see that everything proceeds from God’s foreknowledge. There is nothing random, impulsive, or casual about the way God works. He acts from full knowledge.

2. God Chose Us

Second, God chose us on the basis of His foreknowledge. He chose us to be His own possession for a special purpose.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him”
(Ephesians 1:3–4 nasb).

3. God Predestined Us

Having chosen us, God predestined us.
Predestined
is a word that some people dislike or find frightening. But, in simple language, here is the meaning of the word in the context of these seven stages of God’s plan: “He worked out the course that our lives were to take so that His purposes would be fulfilled.”

I trust you can see the simple, logical outworking of God’s plan? All these steps must go together, and they must go in this order. God foreknew us. On the basis of His foreknowledge, He chose us. To make His choice effective, He predestined us—He worked out in advance the course our lives were to take. Each of these steps took place in eternity, before creation began. Before history was ever set in motion, God conceived these purposes and worked out how He would implement them.