I remember seeing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. for the first time.
I stood there, as a 12-year-old boy—awestruck by a bigger-than-life president chiseled in white stone, sitting on a huge chair. Totally mesmerized by the immensity of what I saw, I gazed at that famous monument and wondered what I’d do if President Lincoln suddenly stood up!
Every President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces. But God is the sovereign Ruler over all. He’s all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere present at once.
Only Almighty God is exalted over all things—and sovereign at all times.
He’s never surprised, never overwhelmed and never caught off guard. Nobody can sneak up behind him. Nobody can remove him from his throne. Nobody can stop him from accomplishing his plans.
King David declared, “But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11). Because God is eternal—without beginning and without end—his plans and purposes are also eternal. They’re anchored forever to him.
God is bigger than time and space. He travels beyond the galaxies, and yet he’s never late. He’s always punctual. Right on time. He’s always on schedule. Down to the second. He’s unfolding and accomplishing his sovereign will, which is “good, pleasing, and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).
God is skillfully working his eternal plans—even when it doesn’t look or feel like it to us.
Long ago, Joseph’s jealous brothers plotted how to kill him. Long story cut short, they threw him into an empty pit and left him there to die. Later on, they sold him to a band of ruffians who took him to Egypt and sold him as a slave.
Today, we know God is the One who lifted Joseph out of that dusty pit and moved him into Potiphar’s house—and later freed him from a forgotten prison and escorted him into Pharaoh’s palace. We know God coordinated it. Deliberately—and purposefully.
But at the time—only God knew the real reason why those terrible things happened.
With exact precision, God positioned young Joseph so he could later rescue and feed Egypt and the surrounding nations during seven years of awful famine. With perfect timing, God revealed his plans and purposes for Joseph.
The Bible says, “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). Not some things. All things.
That truth is so mind-boggling and yet so reassuring. God is accomplishing his eternal plans and purposes through us. That’s why we can trust God’s perspective—and yield to his plans!