He Knew the End From the Beginning

God knew the end from the beginning. He doesn't always share with us His plan, because He wants us to walk in faith and to trust Him. In some cases, He puts us in situations on purpose to build our faith. In those instances, He knows the end, but He doesn't tell us how it's going to work out, to help us learn to trust Him. He has our best interests in mind, even when we don't.

I think most, if not all, of us are familiar with the story of Moses. Jochebed put her son in a little ark in the Nile river, because Pharaoh had ordered that all Jewish baby boys were to be killed. I don't know how many times I read that story before it registered that God never told her that He was going to save that baby--much less use him to lead Israel out of Egypt. It must have at least occurred to her that she might be putting her baby in the river just so that she wouldn't know when he died. She also knew that she couldn't follow the basket as the current carried it downstream; that would have attracted attention to it. Instead she sent her daughter, Miriam, to see what would happen to the baby. Miriam followed, until the basket attracted the attention of Pharaoh's daughter, who was bathing downstream. I wonder what Miriam thought when Pharaoh's daughter pulled the child from the basket. But Miriam, even at a young age, had the wisdom to speak up when the princess decided to adopt the baby, and offer to 'find' a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. This is something that also went over my head for a long time. They didn't have formula. She could have given the baby cow's milk, but I don't think that practice was widespread then. The obvious solution was to get one of the Hebrew women, whose baby had been killed while she was lactating, to feed the baby. So, because Jochebed obeyed God, and Miriam obeyed her mother, Jochebed was able to see that her son did indeed survive the river.

Even before that, God sent Abram out from his home, in search of a promised land. After Abram, but before Moses, God sent Joseph into Egypt (as a slave!) to prepare for a famine that would have wiped out Israel, but didn't, because Joseph was faithful.

The Bible has lots of stories like these three, and yet, so often we get direction from God, and we make excuses. "But, God, I don't understand how this is going to help." "I don't see any benefit to this." "I can't do this" (as if God doesn't know what we can do). Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Yet, so often we need His help to deal with our unbelief.