I’ve been fighting a great fear of mine this week:
God, what do you plan to do with me?
Will you bless my dreams of becoming a hybrid of a novelist and coffee shop owner? When? Will I actually find a job that I enjoy and that pays enough? Will Tyler and I find a solid church, a strong Christian community? Will you continue the good work that You started in me? The few (and I mean few) times that I actually took my thoughts captive, it was because by God’s grace and Holy Spirit within me, I marveled at this passage:
“You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Psalm 139:5-6 (ESV)
And then I’d breathe.
There was something essential that I was doing wrong. I was focusing on myself, and forgetting the reason that I’m here; the reason for my living. When I realized this, I realized another thing:
That Jesus is Lord, that He is good, that He is faithful, and that what He has planned for me is all purposed for Him.
It’s not about me. Even my life is not about me (Romans 20:24; ESV)! Everything that the Lord has in store for my life here on Earth is for His will, which is to bring Himself glory and salvation to sinners (John 6:38-40). What’s even better? His plans can’t be thwarted (Job 42:2; ESV). No one and nothing can stop God from having His will, for He is omnipotent and sovereign (Proverbs 19:21; ESV).
What is all this rambling about? It’s about peace because we are hemmed in.
Hem (v.): to enclose or confine; to form an edge or border around
Now read verse five again: “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”
God has a will, and our lives are all about that will. His plan for our lives is to use them to carry out this will of His, His will that cannot be changed by anyone but Himself. Therefore, His plans for us are secure, as in He cannot and will not fail in providing for us. That might look differently than what we expect it to or imagine it to, but it will be His plan and it will be perfect, and it will bring us good and Himself glory.
He has literally enclosed us, confined us, protected us within the borders of His beautiful, perfect, saving, eternal will. Why fear? The Creator of the universe has hemmed us into Himself and His will, from all around and from all angles. He has laid His hand upon us.
Isn’t that wild?
Yeah, it is wild. So wild that David’s response upon realizing this is to exclaim how wild it is indeed! He can’t even wrap his mind around it. And can’t you relate? God has laid is hand upon us. He has surrounded us with His will, hemmed us into Himself and His purposes. We know what that means. Yet it seems unreal, it seems like a dream.
But nope. It’s true. So praise God, thank Him, and have peace.
We are not our own, and this life is not about us; it’s about Jesus. Brothers and sisters, we belong to Him, and because He has hemmed us in behind and before, and because He is all-powerful and unfailing, we can have peace. He has a plan for your life, because your life is about Him. Take your eyes off of yourself and set them on your Savior.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3 ESV)
