[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29 v11 [NIV]
Last week’s reflection included mention of procrastination and also our inability to foretell what the future may bring. They are perhaps two of the principal reasons why our plans are upset and things do not turn out as we expect.
As it happened, last week’s reflection was a victim of both. As is usually the case, the text of the reflection was substantially ready by Sunday morning but I decided to leave it until later before posting online. When I did finally decide to upload it I found that the internet connection was inoperative. The latter was, of course, not my fault!
It is easy to get frustrated when our plans are hampered or even thwarted by some unseen circumstance. We often look around for someone to blame, fairly or otherwise.
In the Old Testament book that bears his name we read how Daniel, after seeing a particularly alarming vision, prayed for an understanding of what he had seen. After three weeks an angel brought an answer and explained the delay:
“from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days ”
Daniel 10 v12-13 [ESV]
In that passage the blame is directed against ‘the prince of the kingdom of Persia’, a reference to an evil angel who opposed the will of God.[1] We are reminded too that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Having said that, we should remember that not all the set-backs we encounter are due to ‘enemy action’.
When apportioning blame we are usually careful to try to avoid pointing back at ourselves. We resort to excuses such as ‘the dog ate my homework’ or ‘the traffic was bad’. However, the writer John warns us against trying to hide behind such excuses:
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1 v8 [ESV]
Despite our propensity for self deception and the excuses that we offer, God has a plan to deal with our sin. These words written by Philip Bliss in 1875 summarise that provision:
Guilty, helpless, lost were we; blameless Lamb of God was he,
sacrificed to set us free: Hallelujah, what a Saviour![2]
The early Christian congregation in Corinth was a diverse group of believers with an equally diverse range of understandings and uncertainties about their new faith. The apostle Paul wrote these words of reassurance, which have been passed on to us:
He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1 v8 [BSB]
Let us be grateful that God’s plans do not fail through poor timing or unforeseen events.
References:
[1] David Pawson, “A Commentary on Daniel”, via Kindle.
[2] Hymns for Today’s Church (2nd ed.) #130 via Hymnary.org
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys