

Psalm 138:7-8 - Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life; You stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.
"The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me." It is not my purpose, or the plans of another person for me, but the purpose of God that will be fulfilled. What is His purpose for me, for us all? As He did with the psalmist, God delivers us and preserves our lives, sometimes in ways we may never, on this earth, see or realize. He knows the content and outcome of our days before we even live those days, although He does not reveal that divine knowledge to us: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). God gives us our human reason, the wise and experienced counsel of others and the guidance of His Word as we sort out the daily decisions that we face. We may not know the outcome of those decisions ahead of time, but we can trust that our Lord knows what lies ahead for us.
God's ultimate purpose for us is no secret. His Word reveals that purpose to us. It is the result of God's decision made before we were born, before He created the world. What is that purpose? What does He want to see happen in our lives? Jesus provides the answer: "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:40). In His grace—His favor that we did not earn and do not deserve—God chose us to be His own. His purpose for us was fulfilled through His enduring, steadfast love, the love that sent His Son to the cross to save us.
God created us anew in Baptism. We are the work of His hands, and He will not forsake us. Guided by the Spirit through the wisdom of His Word, we learn to walk in His ways, even when we must "walk in the midst of trouble." When Jesus returns, all who believe in Him will be raised up from death to live in His presence forever. That is the promise of His enduring, steadfast love: "I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). The purpose of God for us will be fulfilled!
WE PRAY: Lord, preserve me in times of trouble and lead me to walk in Your ways until the day when Your purpose for me is finally fulfilled. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you feel like you have a purpose in your life? Are you actively pursuing it?
2. Can God's purpose for our lives be different, do you think, than our purpose? How so?
3. How does our Baptism into Christ renew us as new beings in God's family?
Today's Bible Readings: Genesis 41-42 Matthew 22:1-22
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