February 5
"I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2)
There is no frustration for any of God's purposes. Man may have his evils, but God has His ways. Man may have much to say, but the final word belongs to God. Solomon reminds us that "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord" (Proverbs 21:30). Jeremiah adds his testimony, saying, "For the plans of the Lord stand firm" (Jeremiah 51:29).
Joseph's brothers decided to get rid of him by selling him to a group of Midianites, but all they managed to do was fulfill God's will. The Midianites provided free transport for Joseph to Egypt, where he rose to become Prime Minister and savior of his people.
When the man born blind regained his sight and believed in the Savior, the Jews expelled him from the synagogue. Was this a victory for them? No, Jesus would have led him out anyway because He is the good shepherd who calls His own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:3). Thus, they saved Jesus the effort of leading him out.
The evil of mankind reached its peak when they took the Lord Jesus, nailed Him to the cross, and killed Him. But Peter reminded them that God had saved Him by His determined plan and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23). God overturned man's greatest crime by raising Christ to be Lord and Savior.
Donald Barnhouse told a story about a wealthy landowner who had lush trees in his fields, but he had a bitter enemy who said, "I will cut down one of his trees to cause him pain." In the dark of night, the enemy sneaked over the fence, approached the most beautiful tree, and began working with his saw and axe. At the first light of dawn, he saw two men coming over the hill on horseback and recognized one as the landowner. Quickly, he removed the stakes, pushed the tree, and let it fall, but one of the branches caught him and pinned him to the ground, causing severe injuries that led to his death. Before he breathed his last, he whispered, "I have cut down your beautiful tree." The landowner looked at him with pity and said, "This is the engineer I brought with me because we planned to build a house, and it was necessary to cut down one tree to make room for the house, and that was the tree you worked all night to cut down."