Day 5: God knows our past, plans our future
“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:5-6).
The Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to proclaim My name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9: 15).
Sovereign Lord, You are sovereign over all the affairs of humans—when You purpose, who can thwart You, when Your hand is stretched out, who can turn it back? (Isaiah 14:27).
You are God—the One who knows our past, plans our future. That thought, Almighty God, should fill us with joy and blessed release, but often, our wayward hearts and rebellious spirits demand a control we cannot handle, an independence we cannot sustain.
Like Your ancient people, we each of us turn to our own way (Isaiah 53:6), even as You promise, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go" (Isaiah 48:17).
But in Your mercy, Lord, You meet us, as You did the religious extremist Saul—on the road to destruction—and You fill our eyes with Your light, and remove the scales of blindness (Acts 9:1-3; 18). And notwithstanding our past, and the misdirection of our present, You meet us in grace, and give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
You transformed Saul into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), with a new identity as the apostle Paul, and You gave him a testimony of the grace by which every dead soul can be made alive: But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved… (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Lord, how we thank You for this great hope for those who are still "dead in trespasses!" No one is beyond the reach of Your grace. Thank You for the evidence of Your transforming power—a power that can redeem the qualities and the leanings of the past and change them into powerful gifts for use in Your kingdom.
We pray with new encouragement today for the ones who are constantly on our heart—the ones who [flee] down the nights and down the days away from the shelter of Your grace. Thank You that God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Thank You that Your love and grace follow after us in relentless pursuit.
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’
~ From the Hound of Heaven, By Francis Thompson ~ 1890
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