- 29. The Purpose of the Lord
Isaiah 14:24 The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.
The Lord is careful about his thought life, for what He thinks will come to pass. And whatever the Lord purposes will stand. There are two things to notice; God has a purpose, and His purpose will surely be fulfilled. First, God has a purpose. Life is not meaningless. History is going somewhere. The universe has a plan. Philosophers, poets, scientists, theologians, etc., have all doubted whether there is any meaning, plan, purpose, direction, or even an intelligent mind behind all we experience in life. This doubt stems not only from unbelief in God, but also from unbelief that God has a purpose. But there is a God and He has a purpose.
We believe, not just in a grand purpose, but we also believe in a specific purpose for each individual created and redeemed person. Furthermore, God has a purpose for everything He created: insects, rocks, sparrows, flowers, and everything else we see fits into God’s grand design. This is especially true for God’s sentient human beings, who are the objects of His special care. We can’t see the grand purpose, and we can’t see how we fit in to the design (we see through a glass darkly), for the only thing we can catch a glimpse of is the backside of a beautiful tapestry. But we believe God and we believe there is a purpose for everything. It is not up to our puny minds to see or understand what our purpose is or how we fit in to it all; it is up to God to arrange our lives according to His purpose. Our job is to believe God and submit to Him. He really does know best. “Thy will be done.”
Secondly, God’s purpose for our lives will be fulfilled. It will stand. That is the promise we take comfort in. We live our lives in subjection and obedience to the Lord. Nothing happens by accident. Because of this promise we can trust the Lord and rest in peace. God knows the “why” to every question we have. He just cannot explain every detail to our satisfaction, But He does assure us that He is God, He knows what He is doing, He knows where we are going, He knows how to get there, and He know why. We can live at great peace when we believe the promise.