If We Could See the Whole Plan

If we could see what God sees, we would never argue with His providence.

That can be an easy sentiment to agree with on easy days. It’s harder when God’s providence is leading us through grief, confusion, or fear. This is where our faith is tested. Faith does not wait for full understanding. It clings to God when understading is impossible. If we could see the whole plan of God—the end from the beginning, the joys that will come from the sorrows—we would certainly choose this very path, difficult thought it is.

When Joseph was sold into slavery, betrayed by his brothers, and imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, he couldn’t have seen what God was doing. Years later, when he stood before those same brothers as the second most powerful man in Egypt, he said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Joseph didn’t mean that evil wasn’t evil. He meant that God’s wisdom and sovereignty runs deeper. Even through the darkest seasons, the Lord was guiding His story to a redemptive end.

This is true for every child of God. Paul tells us that “for those who love God all things work together for good”(Romans 8:28). “Good” doesn’t always mean “pleasant.” The good God is doing is to conform us to the image of His Son. Often that shaping happens through affliction. God carves Christlikeness into us by means of suffering. And as the carving hurts, faith remembers the hands that hold the chisel.

We rarely see the whole plan. We catch glimpses: a mercy here, a provision there. But the larger tapestry remains hidden. From our side, it looks like a tangle of loose threads. From heaven’s side, it is a masterpiece of glory and grace. As Paul wrote, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

We walk by faith. We do not see the whole plan, but we see Him. And that is enough. The same Christ who bore the cross now reigns in glory, ordering all things for the good of His people. His wounds are proof that suffering never has the last word. If the worst day in history, when the Son of God was crucified, became the means of eternal life, then surely our darkest days are not wasted either.

So we trust. We grieve, but not as those without hope. We ache, but not without purpose. And we rest in the quiet confidence that if we could see all that God sees, we would not only accept His plan — we would choose it.