Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Woodrow Kroll
Sees the End From the Beginning
Wouldn’t you rather talk to a guide who’s been through the trail before? It would be better to know a guide who’s been through the path that you’re taking and already knows how it ends. So it is with God. He knows our needs before we even need them because He can see around the corners of time. Isaiah the prophet wrote of God, “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 all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9b-10).
Knows Us Better Than We Know Ourselves
God knows our hearts better than we do. My spouse knows me very well, and I think I know myself very well. But God knows us better than we can even imagine. He says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21). We might think we know our hearts, but “the heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). That knowledge should keep us humble because we don’t know the half about us that God knows.
Gain Through Pain
When I was in sports in high school, I was told no pain, no gain. That was true then, and it’s true today. We learn more in suffering and pain than we ever do when times are good. Paul says that instead of mourning over our suffering, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3); and that’s our goal. It is to build endurance for this life to build character for the next life as “we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:5).
Conclusion
God knows that everything we experience in life, good or bad, will ultimately work out for our very best (Romans 8:28). We must trust Him in the storms of life and in the sunshine. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows us better than we know ourselves; and we must realize that there is gain through pain, just as Jesus suffered and died to gain eternal life for all who believe in Him.
