Declaring the End from the Beginning
There is an incredible characteristic of God which I think is frequently overlooked in our daily thoughts, prayers and interactions with the Lord. It has everything to do with the Lord’s omniscience and sovereignty and literally impacts every aspect of our lives. We, in the conduct of our busy lives, can easily be guilty of spiritual neglect culminating eventually in what could be disobedience couched in our ignorance. Recognizing and faithfully responding to this unique characteristic can have profound consequences in our lives.
We find the essence of this unparalleled nature of God delineated in Isaiah 46:9,10–Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. The phrase, “Declaring the end from the beginning,” is translated as, “Only I can tell the future before it even happens,” in the New Living Translation of the Bible. I believe this is an incredibly important concept. Our belief in this regard will dictate how we react to the everyday events in our lives. Will we simply walk through each day ignoring the presence and activity of God or will we choose to discover the Lord participating in the “common” affairs of our everyday lives?
Many believers, if not most, tend to see the Lord operating from a remote perspective after having created the world and set it in motion. On the other hand, there are those who believe the Lord Jesus is much more personally involved in our everyday lives. I call this the providence of God. It is the protective care, guidance, and intervention of the Lord in our everyday lives. This is a little confusing for a lot of Christians since there is such a tendency to classify events as either good or bad based on one’s personal perspective. We seldom seem to interpret happenings in our everyday lives from a spiritual perspective in the kingdom of God. It is imperative that we choose to make this distinction so we can avoid misunderstanding what the Lord might be doing in our lives.
The Bible is replete with examples of the Lord’s providential dealings in the lives of his people. We have adequate evidence of this as we follow the history of Israel throughout the Old Testament. In Exodus 15, the faithfulness of the children of Israel was tested when they came upon the bitter water in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy 8 we have Moses recounting Israel’s journey in the wilderness and recalling how their character was tested and proven by enduring various trials. The Lord was involved in seemingly “negative” experiences of Israel ascertaining their commitment to his statutes and regulations.
Although the circumstances today are quite different, God’s modus operandi remains the same. He wants to conform us to the image of Christ and he will use various conditions and happenings in our lives to bring this to pass. I want to share a personal circumstance in my life by way of illustration. Today my wife and I are living in a beautiful paid-for home which we feel it could have been custom built just for us. In addition, we are living within 10 minutes of our older daughter, a glorious blessing of God.
The trying experiences leading up to this time were many. Personally, we never saw or planned for this in our future. To make this move, we had to sell our house in the Finger Lakes of New York in December 2025. Then we had to travel to central Indiana through a horrendous snowstorm. We had to accomplish all this while I was less than 2 years from open heart, triple bypass surgery and a stroke.
God’s role in this miracle actually began years prior to the actual move. That is because he knew the end from the beginning. In 2004, we were able to purchase a little home on seven and a half wooded acres nestled in the Finger Lakes of New York. This was possible because my parents ensured that my brothers and I would receive an inheritance upon their passing. That house eventually doubled in value over the years.
Additionally, in the years long before we ever dreamed of moving close to our daughter, we began to modestly buy silver rounds. When we started this process the price of silver was around $18.00 an ounce. We were pastoring churches at the time and were receiving fairly modest salaries. Our silver stacking grew over the years and we even added a few ounces of gold. By the time we were ready to purchase our “custom” home, the price of silver was in the upper 80’s! We were then able to liquidate the precious metal and purchase our home.
God wasn’t quite finished though. A year prior to our move, our daughter went into real estate and it was she who found this home for us.
Knowing of this awesome characteristic of God, we are encouraged to seek out and discover the Lord in every aspect of our lives. We need to break the habit of simply relegating things as either good or bad and learn to find out what God really wants to do in any given situation. By stigmatizing the happenings in our lives we risk putting ourselves in opposition to God. We could also be in danger of failing to cooperate with the will of the Lord.
None of us like unpleasant circumstances, but should our first instinct and response be to undo or escape the unpleasantness? I still find myself at times wrestling with my present circumstances. It has been difficult to surrender the lifestyle I once had and accept my current situation. However, I am learning to recognize and embrace all that the Lord is accomplishing in me, my wife, and in our marriage. Graciously allowing others to do for you what you once did for yourself is a growing process. Remember this, God will only allow in your life that which is for your eternal good.
Jesus said he was the same yesterday, today, and forever. What he did over 2000 years ago he is still doing today. Let us learn to celebrate Christ in all circumstances and in all of life.
