Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
(Prov 19:21)

God’s revelation encompasses the completely free grace of God offered to rescue us from the dominion of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins (Col 1:13-14).

God’s revelation is also the story of God accomplishing his purposes in and through us.  It is the story of God using individuals, leaders, and teams, people like you and me, to accomplish his purposes.

“When God contemplates some great work, he begins it by the hand of some poor, weak, human creature, to whom he afterwards gives aid, so that the enemies who seek to obstruct it, are overcome.” (Luther Table Talk)

God divinely chooses people for a specific project to accomplish his purposes.

Sometimes God divinely chooses a person of faith for a specific project to accomplish his purposes. People like Noah, Abraham, and Moses led projects by faith in accordance with God’s will.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. (Heb 11:7-12; 24-29)

At times even these Godly men and women did not act by faith. Like us, sometimes they relied on their own strengths or succumbed to temptation.  Moses in frustration with the Israelites struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock (Num 20:1-13). David, instead of leading his people to war commits adultery with Bathsheba and tries to cover it up by murdering Uriah (2 Sam 11).

When we succumb to temptation, we must live with the consequences, and at times the cost can be high, for these actions displease the Lord (2 Sam 11:27). These actions demonstrate a lack of trust in the Lord, and do not honor Him as holy in the sight of our team, our church, our company, or our community (Num 20:12). The consequences for Moses was that he was not able to lead the people into the Promised Land. For David, it cost him the life of his son.

Yet God in his amazing grace forgave them, and their robes are washed white in the blood of the Lamb. In the same way, the precious blood of Christ cleanses us at those times when we don’t walk by faith, freeing us from living lives consumed by guilt.

Our Lord in his sovereignty is not limited to use men and women of faith to accomplish his purposes. At times God chooses a leader who does not acknowledge him to accomplish his will. God could have chosen a thousand different ways for Christ to be born in Bethlehem, including just telling Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem. But in his divine wisdom he chose to work through the pride of Caesar. Caesar issued the decree that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. When we at work see people lead projects simply to bring glory to themselves, by faith we must trust that God in some mysterious way will use these projects and these leaders to accomplish his eternal purposes.

God has chosen you with your passions and placed you where you are with the people you lead to accomplish his purposes.

Thought for the day

What does it mean to you, that God has chosen you to accomplish His purposes?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace that has redeemed me, and allows me to call you “Father”. Jesus, here am I ready to do what you are asking me to do. Lord, I cast my doubts and fears into your hands. Take my hand Lord and walk with me. Amen.