God's Hidden Plan

We're going to start reading Deuteronomy 29.29.

It states, The secret things belong to the Lord,

but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever,

that we may follow all the words of this law.

This verse highlights the balance between God's hidden wisdom and our responsibility

to obey what he has made known to us.

There are many stories in the Bible about trials, tribulation, and redemption.

This morning we will discuss some of those and we'll go chronologically.

In Genesis 37, we learn about Joseph when he was born to Jacob.

Jacob loved Joseph because he was given to him in his old age.

And at 17, his most beloved son was given a coat of many colors by Jacob.

As if they weren't angered enough already, Joseph shared a couple of dreams

he had with his brothers.

They were about the sheaves of grain bowing to him, and then,

again, the sun, moon, and stars, 11 stars.

This only perpetuated their anger, and they were going to kill him.

God appointed Reuben to be the cool-headed one and stop the murderous plot the others were making.

Instead, they ended up selling him to slave traders who ultimately sold him,

to the captain of the guard in Egypt, Potiphar.

Genesis 39 talks about how Potiphar's wife falsely accused him of untoward things.

Potiphar, though, he did not believe it, could not humiliate his wife,

and sent Joseph to prison.

God showed the meaning of multiple dreams of inmates to Joseph.

Where the cupbearer ended up being released and the baker, well,

you know what happened to him.

Now in chapter 41, two years later, Pharaoh had dreams. And the cupbearer told.

Pharaoh how Joseph accurately had interpreted the dreams for them in prison.

Pharaoh summoned Joseph to interpret his dreams and listened to what God had

shown Joseph the meaning of the dreams were.

Eight years later, in Genesis 42, when the first year of the famine began,

Jacob had sent his sons to Egypt after learning of their grain stores.

The story goes on, and ultimately Joseph reveals himself later,

and they all can see that God had a hidden plan for Joseph to save his family,

at least 10 years after being sold along with the entire region.

If you look at Romans 8.28, it says, And we know that all things work together,

for good for those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.

Joseph was redeemed, and God rewarded him for his obedience to his hidden plan,

that saved thousands of lives. Isn't God awesome?

In Exodus 1, with a new king in power, the Israelites, being very fruitful and

multiplying, there was an order given to throw all newborn baby Jewish boys into the Nile.

Moses' mother put him in a basket where Pharaoh's own daughter found him.

God rewarded her trust in his hidden plan and had her nursing him again that very day.

After Moses fled to Midian, he married and spent 40 years in the desert shepherding sheep.

God then spoke to Moses through the burning bush and directed him back to Egypt.

The Lord nearly killed Moses in Exodus 4, but with the action of Zipporah spared him.

Moses met with Pharaoh multiple times, showed him signs and wonders,

and it wasn't until the firstborn plague hit that Pharaoh lost his son that

he finally released the Israelites.

I'd like to add a modern quote here about communication that briefly,

after briefly talking about Moses,

the single biggest communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

I wonder, are our lives like that with God?

So the Israelites were ultimately freed. Moses took them into the desert,

and they had many trials and tribulations there, but they were free.

That was God's plan for Moses.

Let's talk about Job briefly Job was blessed initially quite a bit He lived

in the land of Uz Possessing immense wealth, livestock,

seven sons, three daughters And acting as spiritual priest for his household,

The great tragedy, in a single day.

Satan stripped Job of his wealth, servants, and all of his children through

sudden disasters and raids.

Job was then struck with painful sores from head to toe, yet refused to curse God.

Job went on to talk with his friends about all the things that had happened

to him, and he wondered why.

Finally, God answered Job out of a whirlwind, and Job humbled himself.

God then restored Job's fortunes twofold, gave him ten more children,

and Job lived an additional 140 years.

I wonder how we would all feel to be granted 140 more years on this earth.

Then, we'll move on to Daniel now.

God allowed Daniel to be thrown into the lion's den And God's hidden plan was

to tame the lions When Daniel was thrown in there Daniel emerged from the den unharmed,

Leading King Darius to declare a sweeping decree Commanding all people and his umpire.

To fear and revere the God of Daniel The very same God we are here to worship this morning,

God has and holds ultimate knowledge and hidden plans That we as people often

cannot see and fully understand And he will be with us if we trust and obey him,

In Jeremiah 29.11 God reminds us that he has an intentional purpose for our lives In this verse,

the Lord declares For I know the plans I have before you Plans to prosper you,

And not to harm you Plans to give you hope And a future.

Some people mistakenly believe that verse means that the Lord will prosper whatever you are doing.

That is only so if you are following His will.

Remember, God has a hidden plan.

Let's continue on through verse 14.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your heart.

I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back from captivity.

This is just God's promise to Jeremiah that if we follow him, trust him.

It will all work out for us in the end. Originally, I was planning on this,

going in very depth on each of these and realized that if I did,

I wouldn't be done before I'm supposed to be on the stage for the America 250 celebration.

I have some verses on redemption here I would like to share with you.

In Psalm 107, verses 2 and 3, Let all the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.

Psalms 107:2

Those he redeemed from the hand of the foe. Those he gathered from the lands.

From east and west, from north and south.

In Psalm 111, verses 6 through 9, he has shown his people the power of his works,

Psalms 111:6–9

given them lands of other nations.

The works of his hands are faithful and just. All his precepts are trustworthy.

They are established forever and ever.

Enacted in faithfulness and uprightness, he provided redemption for his people.

He ordained his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.

That's another one that speaks of God redeeming. Another redemption here is

in Isaiah 44, 21-23. Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant.

I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,

your sins like the morning mist.

Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this.

Shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into songs, you mountains.

You forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob.

He displays his glory in Israel.

In Lamentations, it talks about life being redeemed.

I called on your name, Lord.

From the depths of the pit, you heard my plea, do not close your ears to my cry for relief.

You came near when I called you, and you said, do not fear.

You, Lord, took up my case and redeemed my life.

Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause.

You have seen the depths of your vengeance and all their plots against me.

And then a redemption that I'm sure we're all.

Familiar with is in John 3.16, For God so loved the world, he gave his only

begotten Son, and whosoever should believe in will have eternal life.

God showed us through Jesus that putting Jesus up on the cross and having him

rise from the dead three days later,

that he had a hidden plan for Jesus' death.

It was prophesied, but the third day he did rise.

May say that's all true, Jeremiah, but it's all at least 2,000 years old and

doesn't show us what God can do today.

That's partially true.

Let's jump to 30 years ago. A young man, just getting his license a month earlier,

was going to help some people who had left town with their animal chores early one summer morning.

He was involved in a car wreck caused by his inexperience and another driver's impatience.

His car flipped and rolled and came to rest on his top, on top of him.

Thirty minutes later, when they got the 1950-pound car off him,

MedFlight landed at the top of the hill for the first time at a scene in Richland County.

This young man had a broken leg, pelvis.

And other injuries. God knew all about this and had the following all available,

some of whom were about to go off shift.

A doctor and nurse from the Richland Hospital drove 10 miles to the scene.

UW's primary med flight doctor and nurse, their primary trauma team.

And others. three weeks later he emerged from a coma and eventually recovered through the grace of God,

while at UW he learned compassion and gratefulness because his neighbor was in the adjacent room,

had been caught up by a PTO shaft and tossed around like a rag doll,

in the weeks that she was this young man's neighbor he never heard her say a word,

and he however did wake up many nights hearing her moan and tremendous pain

she received to her head, face, etc.

This young man learned through her pain how much God had looked after him and

was able to understand the enormous power the Almighty One,

has despite having numerous critical injuries himself how well off he was relatively

compared to her, despite of his long road to recovery ahead.

This young man learned God places everyone for a reason in a particular spot.

Years later, he developed seizures, believed to be from the brain injury,

and ended up being fired from his job because the seizures exclusively happened at work.

Many months later, he stumbled upon the Epilepsy Foundation, became a client.

In mere months, he was volunteering. Soon, he was on the board.

He was really popular with many of the clients because he was a client still

himself and was able to help hundreds of them over the years.

Months later, he was nominated as Governance Committee Chair and soon became an officer.

During this time, he realized why the car wreck happened and why he was diagnosed

with epilepsy, to be here, to be there, and help others.

After 30 years the present executive director retired and then the new one didn't

quite like this guy very much and,

pretty much had him exiled but he trusted Romans 8.28,

look at all these and the thousands of other examples throughout the world every

single day showing God's love, compassion and his hidden plan for billions of

people here in the world.

These examples show us how truly small and insignificant we are compared to him.

I close, I have one more example of God's hidden plan to tell you about.

The same young man that I've been telling you about knew an elderly man and

occasionally visited him.

With the additional time he now had, after being ousted, he started visiting

him more and more, and to the tune of at least a few times a week.

They talked, watched TV together, discussed the Bible, legal things, and then he gets a call.

UW Hospital called him, telling him that this man had been brought to them via

ambulance after first being taken to the Richland Hospital from a fall and loss of consciousness.

During this call, he learned for the first time what the elderly gentleman had just learned himself.

He had brain cancer and was only given three months to live.

They had called him to tell him that he had been named power of attorney for

this gentleman There are many stories that could be told about this ordeal.

But we won't belabor the point The man did go to be with our father in heaven

a few months later While at the VA Being in charge of the affairs of this time

This not so young man sought to make arrangements for the funeral,

And felt the Lord guiding him to select a minister Whom some of you might know As Dale Kaufman,

That week he decided to meet with Pastor Kaufman About the service Came to church

that Sunday To do just that And where he ended up finding a new church home.

At all the adversities this man had to go through to get to this point.

If God hadn't guided this young man to minister to that elderly man's spiritual

and personal needs, he literally couldn't be up here today.

This is only a snippet of the greatness of God that this wannabe young man has witnessed in his life.

Friends, isn't it wonderful and amazing to see how God's hidden plan works.

Many of you probably can see your life, in your life, why something has happened to you.

The next time you have 1,950 pounds laying on top of you or whatever feels like

it to you, remember God always has a hidden plan for you that you may not appreciate for decades.

God gave man's free will. Look at what God does when his hidden plan is followed.

There are hundreds of examples throughout the Bible of this,

and we could spend an entire day easily talking about this.

But what's God's hidden plan in your life?

With that, it went faster than I planned on, but let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father Thank you for showing us What your plan is And thank you

for Showing us that we can Always trust in you.

And thank you for giving Us The people 250 years ago,

Who we will be celebrating later this afternoon To give us this country And

what we have Without that we wouldn't be here today,

Keep our minds focused on you And your will be done In Jesus' name, amen.