The Bible is a universe of revelation facts which have no meaning for us until we are born from above; when we are born again we see in it what we never saw before. We are lifted into the realm where Jesus lives and we begin to see what he sees.
~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with You. For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with You.
~ The oracle David, in Psalm 139
Oh beloved, it is true. We have a G_d who is deeply concerned about all of us, and for the world in which we live. And this, we can almost believe to be true. But, just as we begin to understand His great concerns for the great flows of history, and for the populations involved – He rips to shreds the boxes in which our thoughts dwell.
That G_d is deeply concerned for humanity in general, in no way diminishes His profound concern for us individually. In fact, we have to keep something in mind when we are beginning to think about the One who thinks about us: He is infinite. So… The “time” (so to speak) spent in counsel over each of our lives far exceeds the simple years we spend living them out.
Could it be true? Yes, it most surely is.
Forever in His Thoughts: Eternal Planning for You
The Triune G_d of the universe(s), in concert with His very own Selves, and a select host of counselors (read wisdom herself, and others such as who hold the Kingdom’s signet rings to things like beauty, symmetry, truth, goodness, stewardship, virtue, honor, strength, nobility and hope) have sat in the eternal court of the ages to debate and plan out YOUR LIFE.
Just wait a moment beloved. Let this sink in…
No. We are not playing out like some script. And yes, we are playing out our lives within Him – the very fullness of manifold wisdom and Love. We are the freemen of G_d walking along the roads of His sovereign plans for us.
For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
~ from Jeremiah 29
Are we catching this? As Saint Augustine once said, “If you were the only person on earth, Christ would have still suffered and died for you.”
The gargantuan plan of salvation
The infinite Love
The astounding Providence
The enormous freedom He purchased
The jawdropping riches of His grace
All of this has been put together for you. All of it. All the riches of the Kingdom have been allocated for you – individually. And the everything that has gone into planning for you, has been done for each of us. Ages upon ages of the deepest attention to the most minute detail have gone into working all things together for your good – and for mine.
Wow!
But why?
Him. He is Love. And though He will indeed get the glory He alone is most gloriously due, what makes Him even more famous is His astounding lack of need for us. He, the G_d of the universe(s) is completely satisfied with who He is, and what He has. And in this great satisfaction and joy over His own estate, He simply chose to lovingly share it all as an inheritance with His creation. And those who change their minds about how they are going to get anything, and look alone to Him for all these things will receive them freely, abundantly, and completely.
So, are you feeling a bit “unspecial?” Tonight is the night to abandon such foolishness and enjoy the lavish attention your King has already paid you. Time to experience His thoughts toward you. They are magnificent indeed!
Back of the loaf is the snowy flour,
And back of the flour the mill,
And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower,
And the sun and the Father’s will.
~Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901)
