There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’
- Isaiah 46:10
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
- Isaiah 55:11
Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
- Joshua 21:45
“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
- Joshua 23:14
The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his word,
which he decreed long ago.
He has overthrown you without pity,
he has let the enemy gloat over you,
he has exalted the horn of your foes.
- Lamentations 2:17
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 1:6
“12. It is viewed also with respect to time past and future. Past, that we may learn that all things happen by the appointment of God, who acts either by means, or without means, or contrary to means; so that everything which happens yields good to the godly and evil to the wicked. Future, to which belong human deliberations, and which shows that we ought to employ lawful means; since that Providence on which we rely furnishes its own means.”
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Aphorisms
John Calvin did not write these aphorisms. They are a summarization of what he wrote in Institutes of the Christian Religion. There are 100 aphorisms.
God is sovereign. We can look back and marvel at God’s plan that unfolded in each of our lives, that is, for the believer. The one who does not believe thinks they orchestrated their own life or things happened by chance.
We can either believe in luck or not. When we see God’s hand in our lives, Christians should realize that there is no such thing as luck. For the non-believer, they do believe in luck, good or bad.
But with luck, is there any purpose in life? Why are we here? Where are we going? Without God, is there any reason for being here? Is everything meaningless?
I reject the meaninglessness of life. Reading through the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon paints this dire picture that life itself is meaningless, but then, Solomon brings God into the equation. Everything starts to make sense. There is a purpose in life, to glorify God.
But then the second half of the aphorism comes into play. For what happens in the future depends on us, and even the best among us is not great at knowing God’s plan. As believers, we reject luck. Each decision we make is God’s plan or God will work hard getting us back on track or God will let us learn our lesson slowly, as I did.
But as that future unfolds, we can still look back and see God’s master plan at work. Yes, we might see how that master plan would have been different, maybe a lot easier on us, but still, the world kept turning. The major factors in working toward a total destruction of evil in this world are still on target, even though we might not like how it is going at the moment.
And God’s plan for us is working out nicely, even though we might not like how it is going at the moment.
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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