A New Year
There's something I love about a fresh calendar. I still use a paper calendar and pick up a new one sometime around the end of November. Flipping through the blank dates shows so much potential. As I begin making plans, filling in upcoming doctor appointments, anticipated lunch meetings, and blocking off time for vacation, I wonder how much of reality will match what has been jotted down on these pages. The truth is, while we make plans, we don't know what the coming days, weeks, and months will bring. As Proverbs 16:9 says, "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."
Think about your last year. What events and experiences were things you never expected? What plans did you look forward to only to be disappointed? What things that you were anxious about never happened? What changed everything in a moment?
As we look to the year ahead we know that our intentions and expectations shown on our calendars represent only possibilities. Most will certainly come to pass without a thought. But times will be rescheduled, appointments will be scratched through and events will be erased as the weather, sickness, changed minds, and countless other things beyond our control take place.
Part of the pleasure I take in looking over the blank pages is the possibilities they represent. A greater joy is in knowing that an eternal God knows with certainty what each of these dates will bring.
"I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'" (Isaiah 46:9-10)
Our God is eternal. He has no beginning, no end, and, being outside of time, doesn't experience moments in succession. This means we have an all-wise, all-powerful, loving God who knows whatever we face in the future. This should bring us great comfort. While we make plans and desire that they take place the way we imagine, we're limited in what we know. This means our intentions will never be as good as God's purposes. So when we face surprises or changed plans, we can take comfort that God gets to veto our calendar. That is, if we trust the promise of Romans 8, "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good." This isn't to say we don't acknowledge disappointment or grieve evil and suffering. But it is to say that we trust that those disappointments and losses didn't catch God by surprise. And if God has allowed it into the lives of His beloved, it can only ultimately be for our good.
Q.1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
(Heidelberg Catechism)