So That

Do you ever find yourself wondering why something is happening or has happened to you? Have you ever thought about what God’s purpose is in either causing or allowing something to happen in your life? I often find myself questioning God’s sovereignty and plan for my life. Surely some of the tragic events or heartbreaking moments in my life were mess-ups or accidents that weren’t supposed to happen. Surely God is too good and too loving to let something bad happen in my life on purpose.

In the 1997 suspense thriller, The Game, Michael Douglas plays the immensely wealthy Nicholas Van Orton. After a conversation with his unusual brother, strange things start happening to him and he is forced to run from people who are trying to kill him. After days of running and hiding, there is a climatic moment on top of a building. After a series of events, Van Orton leaps off the top of a building. Instead of splattering all over the ground, he falls through breakaway glass and lands safely in a giant airbag marked by an "X", surrounded by hundreds of his friends and family. The twist ending is that his brother had paid millions of dollars to have this “game” set up for him to play. All of it was a game. It was all carefully planned and carefully carried out. His every move was monitored by the game’s planner and they had numerous plans in the works to make absolutely sure that Van Orton would end up in the exact right place at the exact right time.

In Galatians 1:11-24, the Apostle Paul briefly describes his story to the churches in Galatia. He discusses the story of his previous life apart from Christ, his dramatic conversion, and his post-salvation life in Christ. In verses 15 and 16, Paul writes:

But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles.

Paul recognized that God planned everything that ever happened to him. Every detail of his life was carefully planned and carefully carried out based on his choices and responses. Before he was even born, God was preparing Paul’s “game”. He was preparing every detail so that Paul would end up exactly where he was supposed to at exactly the right time. Since before either of us was born, God had a plan for your life and for my life and through the good and the bad, the joyful and the tragic, he has carried it out to perfection in order to make sure we end up exactly where we are supposed to be right this very minute. Can you imagine how much planning and detail it would take to plan every detail of a few days for one man in the movie? To plan every detail of every minute so that everything runs according to plan?

God is so sovereign and so loving. He cares enough about you and me to plan every tiny detail of our lives to make sure that we end up exactly where we are supposed to so that we might proclaim the Gospel in that place. So that we are able to represent Christ to the people in that place. So that we might fulfill God’s calling in our lives through obedience. So that his name might be glorified. So that the lost might be saved. Since before you were born, God planned every detail to make sure you would get to wherever you are right this very second so that you might share his love with the people around you. Are you going to let that go to waste? Or are you going to step out in obedience so that God might be glorified?