God Will Accomplish His Purpose (Isaiah 46:9-10[11])

...I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' [¹¹calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.] —Isaiah 46:9-10 [11]

“I don’t know.”

That’s hard to say, isn’t it? Especially when we're talking about the things that are most important to us. It’s hard to say because we like to have a plan, to have things settled, to feel like we're in control. But that’s not always possible, is it? Sometimes, as much as we hate to admit it, we simply don’t know. That’s where I've been living for the past six months.

In April I traveled with my family to Africa to complete an adoption that was supposed to take six weeks. Now it’s October and we're still here with our daughter waiting for approval to return to the US. I don’t know when we'll be able to go home. I don’t know what to tell our friends and family. I don’t know how to speed up the process. I don’t know why all of this has happened. I simply don’t know.

Maybe you've felt this way before. Are there circumstances in your life that you don’t understand? Maybe you've found yourself wondering how God could possibly let certain things happen to you. Have you spent a lot of time wondering “Why?” If you're struggling with these types of questions, listen to what God has to say in Isaiah 46:9-11:

For I am God, and there is no other, I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed and I will do it.

I love these verses because in them God comes to us and says, “Even though you may not know how this season of your life is going to unfold, I do.” For every time that you have found yourself forced to mumble “I don’t know” God’s voice echoes back through these verses and says, “I do. I know how your story ends. I know why I am allowing this to happen. I know the good I intend in this tragedy and you can rest knowing that I will accomplish all my purpose.”

Of course, sometimes when we feel like our lives are spinning out of control we can find these promises hard to believe. But that is where verse 8 comes in. There God says, “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old.”

How can you know for certain that God has a good purpose for your suffering? How can you be sure that he will bring you through this tragedy and leave you safe on the other side? By remembering the former things of old. That means we need to remember how our God "so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Before the foundations of this world were ever laid God knew how the story of his people would end. He knew that our story would end with eternal life. Earlier in Isaiah, we read about how God knew that one day he would swallow up death forever. He knew that one day he would come and wipe every tear from our eyes and take away the reproach of His people forever (Isaiah 25:8).

God spoke these promises in the Old Testament, then He sent His only Son to shed His precious blood in our place. In Romans 8:32, Paul assures us that the God who did not spare his only Son but gave him up for us all is a God who will finish what He started. He has spoken to us through His Son and he will bring our final salvation to pass. He has purposed and He will do it.

Yes, the middle of our story can be very difficult, there are a lot of things that we don’t know. But never forget that our God has told us how the story ends. And it’s a good ending. It’s the kind of ending that makes the middle worth it, however difficult it might be.

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For Reflection

1. What things in your life are you struggling to understand?

2. Make a list of some of the good things God tells us about how the story ends for His people. How can God's promises help you persevere during the difficult parts of your story?

3. How does Jesus prove God’s faithfulness to accomplish our salvation? How can remembering what He did for us help us trust God even when we don’t understand?