Look Again! Learning to See God in the Midst of the StormSýnishorn

When it’s not What You Expected, Look for the All-Knowing God

Have you ever had a picture in your mind of how you wanted things to work out? Maybe you had planned out when you wanted to get married. Or perhaps you knew exactly when you wanted to have kids, or what job you wanted. I get it! I even had my children’s genders picked out along with their names.

What may not have been part of your plan was the car accident, the job layoff, the years of singleness, the sick child, or the financial setbacks. I don’t know what it was for you, but I know the feeling of staring at your life and thinking, “This isn’t how things were supposed to go.”

As a child, I played with Barbies almost every day. I could create the most intricate stories of Barbie’s amazing life. Her life was just as I had envisioned it to be. But after I put my Barbie Doll away and walked into the real world it seemed that nothing was as I expected. It was much darker than I thought it’d be. I was much more lost than I thought I’d be, and I yearned to retreat to my childhood room to play with my Barbies, where everything was under my control. In proverbs 3:5-6 we are reminded that God sees much further than we do. We don’t have to know the end from the beginning because He does. We don’t have to know all things because He does.

When life is not how you expected it to be, look to the all-knowing God. Is He confused? No. Is He worried about the unknown? No. Are things beyond His control? No. Why? Because He knows everything. Even when things are not going as we expect we can trust that it has not caught Him off guard. Because He is all-knowing and we can trust Him to lead the way.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do you know to be true about how much God knows?
2. How does realizing God is all-knowing help you when life is not going according to your plan?
3. In what ways do you see the plan of God playing out in your life right now.

Prayer:

Dear God, help us to remember that you are the all-knowing God! Nothing catches you off guard. Help us to rest in this truth even during life’s unexpected twists and turns. We know, you have a plan, and you have not forgotten about us. Thank you, Lord! In Jesus' name, Amen.