If we’ve all learned anything from 2020, we’ve learned that our plans actually submit to the sovereign Lord who orders all things.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps (Prov. 16:9).
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand (Prov. 19:21).
The stricken hymnwriter declared “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” as he praised our sovereign God in the midst of depression, into a life of immense challenges. It probably was not the life he’d planned.
(God Moves in a Mysterious Way, Cowper, W., 1774)
Would you ever plan to experience a life of challenges and trials? Would you have planned all that 2020 has brought? Here’s the thing…neither of us would. But we are not an infinite God who moves in a mysterious way, possessing wisdom we cannot possibly comprehend. What could be the purpose to 2020?
God’s Gift of Grace in 2020
I’m beginning to wonder…could 2020 actually be a gift of God’s grace to show us our need for Him, to draw us to Himself, to reveal Himself to us in Scripture? Could it all be an undeserved gift of kindness from God, wrapped in immense grace, to stir us to seek Jesus…and find Him in His Word?
Let’s follow the hymn-writer’s thoughts and read the living and active Word of God, in a worshipful moment, a “praise interruption.”
Lord, I trust Your grace, goodness, and love for me as You work out your perfect plans
His plans and purposes for 2020 have included events we wouldn’t have planned or desired to experience, right? I’m sure His children who had been exiled far from their homes felt that way too. Yet, by His gracious gift, the Lord shared His plan to bring them back in seventy years:
“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” (Jer. 29:11).
Beloved in Christ, He has perfect plans of future hope for you and me too! Our Father of steadfast love smiles upon us as His children, in and through His kingdom plans for our lives on this fallen earth. 2020 must be included in those kingdom plans, right?
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust him for his grace;
behind a frowning providence
he hides a smiling face.
(God Moves in a Mysterious Way, Cowper, W., 1774)
Lord, I praise You because You are bringing about the restoration of all things as You complete Your kingdom work
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all (Ps. 103:19).
Dear ones, 2020 has brought overwhelming challenges. But our roles in it, our kingdom purposes, are right now in His sovereign and loving hand! He has already prepared His future plan for us, including bringing us into His eternal presence, assured by His own power and not our own. What a comfort and joy as we consider His great love and grace!
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10).
[Believers] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (I Pet. 1:5).
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6).
Because He is King, reigning and faithful in all His words and kind in all His works, all that happens to us is part of His mysterious kingdom plan and good work. It’s far too big for us to understand, with infinite moving parts and pieces from all of eternity past and into eternity future. What a wonder!
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.] (Ps. 145:13)
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.
(God Moves in a Mysterious Way, Cowper, W., 1774)
At the end, after the fallen world as we know it disappears, God will wipe away every tear. He promises He will remove all pain, suffering, and grief. We have so much hope in Christ! We who are His children, redeemed heirs in Christ, will hear His voice:
As 2020 roars toward its end, what is the Lord telling you about His kingdom and your personal role in it, for such a time as this?
We aren’t in the restored kingdom yet, so we suffer. We need His help and guidance. As we wait, as we seek Jesus, what is He guiding you to study in His Word so that you can discern His voice above all others?
Could this be part of His purpose for you and me in 2020’s trials? His gift of grace, revealed in desperate need?
Lord, I praise You for Your Word. I believe, help my unbelief. I need Your strengthening gift of grace to guide me.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
(God Moves in a Mysterious Way, Cowper, W., 1774)
This is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever (Ps. 48:14).
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Is. 55:10-11).
Dear friends, let’s study His Word, listen to His voice, and trust the God of all grace with His kingdom plan and sovereign purpose, as He restores, confirms, strengthens, and establishes each of us in ways that He knows are perfect, best, good, and kind.
Responding and trusting to God’s gift of grace in 2020 by singing praise to God
Like the hymn-writer who sings of God’s grace into his suffering, let’s also respond in praise to our God of all grace. I desperately need Scripturally-saturated, Christ-exalting, God-glorifying playlists these days and I pray that the playlist gifts are also helpful to you!
In this week’s YouTube up-tempo and powerful playlist, we praise our holy Lord for His glorious and restoring kingdom work, His greatness, His sovereign reign as King of kings. We sing hymns of trust and sing a Psalm of praise. We believe and trust AS we sing. I’m so thankful for these incredible musicians, artists, and technology! If it would bless you to experience “praise interruptions” this week, intentionally singing praise to the Lord and trusting Him as you sing, sign up here and I will email the special list to you!
2 Comments
Silas · November 3, 2020 at 7:50 am
Dear Lauri,
Thank you for this very well written message. It comes down like sweet rain on a dry land. May the Lord keep use you to soothe the hearts of His children.
Lauri Hogle · November 3, 2020 at 7:55 am
Dear Silas, my heart is heavy, stirred, and soothed by the Word of our great and reigning God. Thank you for your encouragement! It means everything to me, especially coming from you, one who has ministered to so many and studied His Word so deeply! God bless you, brother in Christ!
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