Set For Life

Even as I write this, we have just been told that lockdown is extended yet again in Melbourne, Australia. Another wedding anniversary in lockdown. Another birthday for my little one in lockdown not knowing whether we will be able to reschedule the birthday party she had looked forward to for so many months for a later date. It is easy to succumb to the feeling that life is not going anywhere and feel down. I need to remind myself constantly that God is in control. Lockdown or not, He is able to achieve the plans and purposes that He has for us no matter what. I cannot fall for a smaller view because that means I am settling for a smaller view of God and no, I don’t want to do that! God is far above our circumstances, over times and seasons and He knows how to accomplish His will!

There are seasons we go through in life when everything does not happen according to our timetable. We can plan thinking by such and such time I will be able to get that degree, get the kind of job in a particular company, find a spouse and get married, have children, buy a home, start my business or project God has called us to, retire, get healed and so on and then suddenly we find that we are way behind the timetable that we expected will unfold in our lives. What do we do in these times of endless waiting? Can we somehow focus on the problem and fix the situation ourselves? And if we can’t, are we tempted to slowly move away from God feeling helpless and disoriented? I came across these beautiful verses of Psalm 62, that reminded me that everything we hope for comes from Him, no one else. So, there is no point in taking our eyes off God but we need to set our eyes on God all the more. We need to wait and hope in Him!
Psalm 62:5-6 (MSG)
^5-6 God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I hope for comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

A few setbacks, some time lost here or there when the unexpected happens or when things take a completely different turn altogether does not mean God is not in control. We don’t need to be anxious, upset and panic. We need to all the more surrender to the One who knows the plans and purposes He made us for and depend on Him to bring it to pass in His time. He is our refuge, our strength and when we are in Him, we are set for life! We are not going to miss out on what God has for us because His plans for us is the best. We need to trust Him through the uncertainties knowing that He is certain. God is such a safe place for us when nothing else is!
Psalm 62:7-8 (MSG)
^7-8 My help and glory are in God
    —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—
So trust him absolutely, people;
    lay your lives on the line for him.
    God is a safe place to be.

The Bible is replete with stories of things not going to plan for many of God’s chosen people. Joseph was given a dream and then his life took an ugly turn and he was in a foreign nation wrongly accused and largely forgotten. Ruth lost the dream of being happily married when her husband left her widowed with no children. David was given a glimpse of his destiny and then he is hunted down for years by someone whom he looked up to. Daniel kept doing the right thing, served faithfully and prayed to God three times a day and gets thrown into the lion’s den. Mary and Martha believed that Jesus will heal their sick brother Lazarus but he ends up dead. Things didn’t go to plan. Rather, things didn’t go according to their plans because God had a bigger and better plan for them!
Romans 8:28
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

If you are still alive and breathing, your story is not over yet. God is weaving the setbacks, the twists and the turns into a grander and better plan for you. This larger story will point not to our greatness but to the greatness of God! If not for God, Joseph would not have experienced a turn around and be appointed Prime Minister in a powerful foreign nation to serve God’s purposes there! If not for God, Ruth would not have met and married Boaz and be in the lineage of not only king David but also that of the Messiah Jesus. If not for God, David would not have made the right decisions along the way, garnered favor and eventually find himself as king of Israel! If not for God, Daniel would not have been delivered from the very mouth of the lion! If not for God, Mary and Martha would not have seen the miracle of their brother Lazarus coming back from the dead and restored to them! God’s greater plan and purpose in our life is possible for those who believe and stay the path even in the twists and turns!
Genesis 50:20
²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Are you feeling that the plans you made are not unfolding the way you want it to? Do you feel your life is spiraling out of control? Be encouraged, that in the here and now, in the short term, it may well feel like that. However, in the long range and in eternity’s perspective, your story is not over yet. God is still crafting the “If Not For God” moments in your life and when it is all written, it will be tell a grand story of the greatness of God in your life! So, I believe in the psalmist’s words, that I am indeed “set for life”! My future in Him from eternity’s perspective is assured. I can run to God because God is a safe place for me! Today, no matter the setbacks, twists and turns you face, choose to run back to God and say “I am set for life indeed”!