Do you ever stop and think about what’s going on around the world right at this moment? As I sit in my house, drinking a La Croix and doing the New York Times wordle, what is everybody else doing? 

This past week in Syria, fighters raided several villages, killing all the men they could find. In Sri Lanka, 22 million people were left without power due to a monkey climbing on a powerline. In Jerusalem, 90,000 Muslims traveled to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to offer the first prayers of Ramadan. In Australia, a tropical cyclone ravaged the coast, shutting down a thousand state schools. 

A lot is going on.

At this very moment, business deals are going down, wars are being fought, occasions are being celebrated, mundane chores are being carried out, new souls are being born, last breaths are being breathed. 8.2 billion people are going about their lives, each with their own concerns, their own obligations, their own celebrations, their own sadnesses and sufferings.

And God is working His will in all of it.

Ephesians 1:11 says: “In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” 

In all the many things going on around the world, God is working out His plan according to His will. It’s a mind-boggling thought. And even more mind-boggling —  we are a part of that grand plan.

“Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace.” (Ephesians 1:4)

Before He made this planet and spun it into orbit in the universe, He chose US, to live out our lives on this earth and help fulfill His plan.

Wow.

And why? Ephesians 1 repeats it three times: to the praise of His glory. 

What happens on this earth, from our limited perspective, may seem confusing, harsh, or unjust. We may question God and wonder how He can allow certain things to happen. But Ephesians 1 reminds us how small our perspective is, and how great God is. How reassuring to know that God is working everything out for His good pleasure and His glory, with a higher plan that we can fully trust.

God, I know that my life is just a small part of your big wide world, but you have chosen me to be a part of Your master plan. Help me to trust you with it all.