Acts 23:12-35 | When God's Promises Are Hard to BelieveSample

People’s Plans vs God’s Plans

Forty men swore an oath to kill Paul. Imagine being on the receiving end of that threat. How do you beat that? How do you escape?

But their oath could not beat God’s promise. Their plan failed. Jesus’s promise to Paul would stand firm.

Human determination can look stronger than God’s promise. We face that every day in all sorts of ways. But it never is. God’s word always prevails. No plan against God’s promise will ever amount to anything. And no plan against God’s people can ultimately succeed if it opposes God’s will.

In Psalm 2, David sings, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and against his anointed one…. The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the LORD ridicules them” (Psalm 2:1-2, CSB).

The Lord laughs because there’s no chance. Like a professional MMA fighter watching a kindergartener try to take a swing at him, King Jesus scoffs at the pitiful attempts of people to thwart him.

Robert C Trube comments on two major themes coming through the book of Acts. One is the proclamation of Jesus as God’s anointed one and risen King, along with the fulfillment of the broadest hopes of God’s promises to his people. The other is the vindication of those who witness to Jesus against those who seek to oppose him, and an exoneration of those who come to align themselves with God’s plan, whether Gamaliel in the Sanhedrin, the centurion and commander guarding Paul, Festus, or Agrippa (The Challenge of Acts).

Because there is no standing against what God has promised. God does not lie. God is not weak. God is never caught off guard. His promises are sure.

When our plans collide with God’s plans, there’s just no contest. When our plans collide with God’s plans, there’s really only two options: Fight back, keep resisting him, and be miserable. Or just give in, do it his way, and get on with it.

NT Wright writes, “If you want to make God laugh, people say, tell him your plans. (Mind you, the corollary to that is, if you want to make God weep, tell him you haven’t got any.”) – Challenge of Acts, 133.

Making plans is God-honoring. Just make sure your plans align with his. And never fear the plans of those who stand against him. Because God’s plans will always prevail in the end.

Prayer

Surrender your will to God’s will. Surrender the temptation to trust human power over God’s power. Surrender your worries to his promises.