God's Plan for the Universe and God's plans for me
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| Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. NB - slightly cut down - for full size see here (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass . . . .
God's eternal decree is his all-encompassing plan for the universe. That God ordainsthings simply means that he planned for them to happen. According to the WCF, God planned from eternity past for everything that will happen to happen.
The Westminster Divines got this truth from scripture. God's plan is mentioned in Ephesians 1:11:
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will … . (ESV)
The counsel of God's will is his plan for the course of history and, Paul says, he works everything according to this plan. Whatever you call it—God's decree, his purpose, his plan, the counsel of his will—God has one, and he's unfailingly bringing it to pass.
My Plan and God's Plan
There are ways my plan for today is little bit like God's plan. I chose the actions and events I put on my list, and I had reasons for each of them. I had a few small goals—this post is one of them—and if things go according to my plan, I'll achieve them.
God has goals, too—or, more properly, purposes—and his plan was chosen to accomplish his purposes. God's ultimate purpose is to display his own glory (Romans 11:36). The universe was made to "declare his glory" (Psalm 19:1); God planned to save people to show his glory (Ephesians 1:3-14). Everything in his plan—and his plan included every single thing that has happened and will happen throughout the unfolding history of the universe—works toward the goal of making God's glory known.
But my plan is different than God's plan in so many ways that they're not really comparable. While I tried to be wise when I planned, some of the choices I made may be foolish in hindsight. God, on the other hand, has perfect wisdom, so from the start, his plan was perfect for accomplishing his purposes.
What's more, everything in my plan depends on things I can't know for sure, and things I don't control, so my plan will undoubtedly change as the day progresses. But God controls everything and knows everything, so nothing can foil his plan. His plan never changes because he knows how to arrange the chain of causes and effects to accomplish his purposes, and he has the power to bring all the causes and effects into existence.
God's Plan for My Life
If God planned everything, then he planned my life, too. To use the language of my favorite psalm, every single day of my life was written in God's book before I existed (Psalm 139:16). Right now, God is unfolding his plan for my life, working in every circumstance to conform me to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29)—and this work of sanctification fulfills God's ultimate purpose, too, by showing his glory, especially the glory of his grace (Ephesians 2:7, 10).
And now, as I write this paragraph, my day is ending. It went, more or less, according to my plan. But one thing is certain: My day was exactly as God planned it way back in eternity past. Nothing catastrophic happened, but if something tragic had occurred, it, too, would have been what God had planned for me.
This truth gives me comfort and hope. It means no matter how I feel about my day (or week, or year), everything is in control—God's control. Everything is working according to God's plan; every circumstance is accomplishing his purpose. There is meaning in every minute of a toddler's nap, and in every single tear, too.
I won't know all of God's reasons for any particular circumstance, but I know this: The ultimate purpose for every circumstance is God's own glory. And for those who love God, all circumstances are working to form Christlikeness within. For those who love him, these reasons are enough.
