Did you spend January moving through the stages of grief? We had high hopes for 2021, but we’ve found ourselves wanting to end our subscription. “Now this?” (Denial) “I’m so tired of this!” (Anger) “God will You end this, I’ll … ” (Bargaining) “I just can’t do another year like this!” (Depression) “It is what it is. God help us, but we can do this.” (Acceptance) It’s hard to have peace with God when we feel like He’s left the building, canceled us, and deleted our account. Does God still know what’s going on?
God not only knows, but He’s prepared when we’re not. When we stock up, we feel empowered. We imagine what we’ll need in future days and what we’ll be able to get. What did you stock up on last year? TP? Chocolate? We make our best guess, but we don’t really know. By the time we stare our needs in the face, (hello 2020 and now 2021) we line up our supply next to our need. We may feel relieved, or we may feel deceived. Where is God in this?
God not only knows, but He’s prepared when we’re not. A lot of people are wondering. They also sense that, “Even non-Christians may find understanding in the life of Jesus,” God’s Son. I want to share 4 reasons to keep feeling peace with God in 2021.
4 Reasons to Keep Peace with God in 2021
Yes, God knows
I don’t know yet, but God knows. He knows everything “now” and to come. I’m sure of this because Matthew 6:8 says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Knowing everything is referred to as His “omniscience” — being all-knowing. Before we knew to pray for protection from a certain virus or endurance in our isolation, God knew.
- He knows everything (Psalm 139:4)
- He sees everything (Hebrews 4:13)
- He knows secrets (Psalm 44:21)
- He understands everything accurately (Isaiah 40:28)
- He knows our hearts (1 Kings 8:39)
- He relates to all creation intimately (Psalm 147:4)
Before we knew to plea for His help for our children separated from friends and schooling via computer, He knew. Before we knew to plea for peace in the streets and integrity in our leaders, He knew. Before we knew to ask Him to comfort our older ones alone and isolated, He knew. We can stock up on stuff, but we’re only guessing at needs. He knows what we need before the need exists. What do you need now? God knew you would need it.
Yes, God prepared
Me? I stocked up on rice … and maybe chocolate. I wish now I had seen my mom again before “lock down.” I wish I went to the gym more. (okay, now I’m just lying …) I wasn’t adequately supplied for the hardships of the last year, but my Heavenly Father stocked up for me. That doesn’t mean I don’t run out of “stuff,” but He supplies for my deepest needs. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” (Psalm 23:1) reassures me, and I believe it. Psalm 23 speaks of life in the shadow of death and fearing evil around us. Read it now for what you need. God knew long ago what we would need and preserved Psalm 23 to encourage and help us when our TP and our chocolate and our patience and our hope ran out.
When God knows everything in advance and provides for it, we call it His providence. It’s not a word directly used in the Bible in reference to Him, but a concept illustrated over and over in records of people who have found themselves under-prepared through all of time and in every trial.
- Abraham on a mountain needing a sacrifice.
- Noah and his family in a hand-built boat in an endless sea.
- Ruth burying her husband in a famine and then becoming an immigrant in a foreign land.
- Lydia trying to keep her business afloat with a hostile government in control.
Not a single one knew what they would need, but in His providence, God knew and supplied what they needed.
Now, God is preparing
God waits for us to want His supply, whether it’s patience, work, health, or wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him,” (James 1:5) We would never ask for the hardship, but our loving Lord allows it. He knows trials grow us in what we need most—faith, steadfastness, maturity, perseverance. Better than chocolate. In the long trials life brings, God’s providential supply becomes the blessings building our connection to Him.
God supplies the help to grow the strength we need before we know we need it. “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,” (James 1:12). Even now, He sees what’s coming and what we’ll need, and He’s preparing.
Then, God will keep preparing
Some day, the current trials of 2021-21 will be over. My stock of rice will be gone, and CoVID will be something we remember. Further forward, there will come a time when all of the hardships of life as we know it will pass away. In His providential care, God supplies for that too. He knows the need and prepares for it even now. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also,” (John 14:2-3).
We didn’t know what we would need in 2020. We don’t know all we’ll need this year. But God knows. Our peace with God remains intact and even grows deeper when we know He knows what’s to come and still watches, cares, and prepares to meet our need.
I created a set of printable scripture cards highlighting what God is like. Download for FREE & print to use in 2021 as reminders God Himself knows all about your needs, cares all about your needs, and prepares for all your needs. DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE SCRIPTURE CARDS HERE.
This is just what I needed…to be reminded that God knows. Thank you.
Yes, He knows it all. Now and what’s to come, and He’s already preparing to care for us in what’s ahead.