It was my observation after Pepper reviewed the five essays on wisdom and asked me a simple question—where do I fit in when God controls everything? I pondered and formulated some ideas that became this essay. Psalm 13:36 tells us, “When David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.”
The answer to Pepper’s question starts with Elohim’s unique attributes, specifically His foreknowledge. Before the universe was ever created, wisdom existed. Proverbs 8:22 says, “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work.” Then came His total awareness of us—the things we would do, the choices we would make, and the prayers we would eventually submit for His consideration. Psalm 139:4 says, “Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.”
At this point, we have a real chance to impact the world around us. He knows exactly what we will ask, and He knows the ultimate impact of that request. For example, He grants prayer precisely as needed for His overarching plan and our personal interests. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Our walk with God includes the acquisition of Elohim’s wisdom to guide our daily path (see James 1:5-6). Walking with God begins with fledgling legs and grows in power as time passes. We gradually learn how to move in unison with His larger plan. We bump into various life events and apply His wisdom to find a solution (implied in Proverbs 16:9). Then, we pray for help to implement that solution. Because our human will has gradually given way to Elohim’s wisdom, we begin to pray for things that truly matter. We pray in concert with His will, and we bring effective solutions to Him (implied in Psalm 37:4). In His infinite foreknowledge—meaning Elohim hears us before creation even occurs—He responds to our prayers and supplications before the timeline of history ever begins. Elohim gradually puts things into place months, years, and even decades before the actual prayer request is uttered, setting things up beautifully for our choices (see Jeremiah 1:5).
If you have ever worked with a project management tool like MS Project, you know how to plan a complex project by breaking it down into milestones, tasks, and individual steps. You define and cost all the activities in the project to achieve the final endgame. Then, you place those tasks in a specific predecessor and successor timeline order, with the milestones marking your progress. This plan drives every action so they support each other, ensuring the workflow runs seamlessly with no gaps in the schedule. Team A is never left idling, waiting for Team B to finish a task before Team A can begin theirs. Coordination, supplies, staffing, and budget are all factored in and made perfect. The task completion estimates are risk-assessed and made perfect.
Imagine Elohim running a master project plan for all of human life—everybody and everything. Just as a human project manager plans events before they happen, so did Elohim. Because He heard our prayers before creation started, Elohim is fully able to fold our unique requests directly into the larger plan. Elohim ensures our specific prayer is defined on His project plan so His response happens at the exact, proper time, factoring in every single collateral impact. Timelines matter. The point when Elohim considers our supplications and sets the course is incredibly important. It all happens before creation. Everything.
Once the planning is completed, then comes operations. His will is marshaled by His sovereignty, controlled by the master project plan, and ratified by His absolute holiness. He is the ultimate assurance that things will happen exactly as needed for the good of each of us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “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.”
We stand in awe watching these things unfold. They are brand new to us, but because we are part of His greater plan, the events are completely commonplace to Him. Elohim saw everything unfold long before we were ever created. We are simply made aware of it “just in time” to participate. Our free will shaped things—both the good and the not-so-good—but His will ensures the final completion. Who else can do this? Not me. He can, He does, He listens, and He implements exactly as needed to magnify the greater good and to ensure we are eternally protected. When we make good decisions, cool stuff happens. When we make poor decisions, we will eventually find a path back to safety, right after some necessary learning occurs.
I choose Jesus.