Design in God’s Heart

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Luke 1:45

In Psalm 32, we read, “The plan of the LORD stands forever; the design of His heart, through all generations.” Imagine, the Creator of the Universe has a design in His heart for you, and for me. He has a plan for our families, and all the people we are concerned about. The banner over that plan is love. 

How blessed we are that we have the example of Mary, the mother of our Lord. She was blessed, yes, but her life was a paradox, just as yours and mine is. She was full of rejoicing, how could she not rejoice when she was the Ark of the Covenant, when she carried in her womb her own Saviour? But Simeon prophesied in the temple, “...a sword will pierce your own soul, too.” (Luke 2:35) No matter how precious and highly favoured Mary was to God, she could not escape the sword. Part and parcel of the beautiful nativity story, of a new birth, is also the cruel death that saved each one of us. 

We cannot escape trials, suffering and pain. But just as not one tiny ounce of Mary’s suffering was wasted, so too our pains count for something in God’s perfect design. In Psalm 56:8, we are reassured that God keeps track of all our sorrows. He collects all our tears in His bottle. He records each one in His book. Each single teardrop!!! We may not understand what God allows in our life, but if like Mary, we just need to believe and trust.