“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand” Isaiah 64:8 NKJV
When we reflect on Jesus’s betrayal, it is natural to see Judas’s greed as the primary cause behind Christ’s crucifixion. However, Scripture reveals that everything unfolded according to God’s determined purpose and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23). Christ, who held the power to save, heal, and redeem, could have delivered Himself from the cross, but He did not. His path to the cross and His resurrection were purposed from the beginning, written long before He took on human form (Luke 24:44).
In the same way, every person created by God carries a predetermined purpose. Before we were formed in the womb, He knew us and wrote our days before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16, Jeremiah 1:5). We were not made to wander through life seeking meaning but to align with God’s will.
Scripture tells us that good works have been prepared beforehand for each of us to walk in and that God appoints every life according to His will and grace (Ephesians 4:11). He knows what lies ahead, for He has purposed it and will accomplish all He has determined (Isaiah 46:10).
When we face difficulties, we often instinctively lean on our understanding and seek a way out. Imagine if Christ had saved Himself from the cross; redemption would not have been our story. But He fully trusted the Father’s plan and walked in His purpose.
In the same way, we are called to hold fast to the hope that our Creator already knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). His design is not that we labour in our strength but that we are shaped and led by His hand.
The believer’s journey is one of deepening dependence. Only when we cease striving and rest in Him does He accomplish what He can do. It would be a great tragedy to stand before Christ and find we spent our lives chasing our ambitions rather than surrendering to His will.
So, beloved, here is the truth: whoever clings to their own life will lose it, but whoever surrenders it for God’s sake will truly live (Luke 9:24). Our lives are beyond us. Each day is an invitation to yield to the One who wrote our story before our first breath. Rather than holding tightly to our plans, let us trust the hands that shaped us. His plans are good, His purposes will stand, and His prepared end is sure (Proverbs 19:21, Isaiah 14:24, Jeremiah 29:11).
Bible Reading Plan: 1 Kings 12-13; James 1