Florida State University won the ACC basketball championship for the first time this year. They fought hard against really good teams like Duke and North Carolina and pulled it off. So then they entered into the “March madness” basketball tournaments and don’t even qualify for the “Sweet Sixteen”, much less the “Final Four”.
What’s up with that? Egad – I would not have imagined that they wouldn’t even make it to the final sixteen teams in the playoffs.
Ah…but God knew, and in fact He knows who will win it all.
Yikes if I had that power I could handily win every office pool instead of coming in dead last every time.
It is fascinating to me to envision God’s unique ability to know the future. God lives within a world with different dimensions than the ones that we enjoy. Its as though His DVR has recorded all of time and then some.
Time means everything to us and we have our watches, alarm clocks, and computer calendar reminders to keep us constantly aware of the time, but it means nothing to God, because He has no beginning and no end and He is not trapped by any boundaries such as time. He formed the world and will determine its close. He also originated a plan of salvation for which He foresaw the need long before it actually became necessary. He tells us in Revelation 22, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
I don’t know if there are angelic flies on the walls in heaven, but they must get an eye full and an ear full as they observe God observing us. He knows how the presidential election will turn out; He knows if Israel will strike Iran; He knows if you will land that next deal; He knows how that test will turn out; And He knows whether or not you will make your decision to accept His Son Jesus Christ and will join Him in heaven for eternity. (Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. Eph. 1:11)
I can only imagine what He must think of our lack of faith in Him and His plan for those whom He loves that have accepted His son by faith. We get an inkling of it when we read the Bible and observe Jesus Christ on numerous occasions admonishing us and telling us not to worry because it accomplishes nothing good. And yet, there are few who don’t worry.
Coach Mark Richt of the Georgia Bulldogs recently spoke at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet at Honey Lake. The thing that most impressed me most about his persona was his calm demeanor. He acts the same in person as he does on television. He is calm if his team is getting slaughtered, or slaughtering their opponent.
He kept us laughing with hilarious remarks describing being on the “hot seat”and on the verge of being fired after losing the first two games last season. He didn’t give up hope, but from the sound of it virtually everyone he knew from his local church to his barber was worried to death about his career and hounding him everywhere he went. It seems that being on the hot seat was not so hot an experience, but he wasn’t as concerned as his friends and supporters.
The difference is that Mark Richt puts his complete faith and trust in the Lord and he was not surprised when his team turned things around and won ten straight, including beating those nasty Gators and taking the SEC East.
Oh yeah!
As you face today and its seeming uncertainty, take heart and trust the Lord and just nip the worry in the bud…Things are right on schedule and God is in complete control. The Bible teaches that God is faithful and that we should be faithful as well. In Romans it states, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. That means they will never be taken away. Keep in mind that salvation is God’s greatest gift to mankind.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.