The God Who Plans Amid Your Chaos — Santosh Poonen

The Hope of God Becoming Man

Dear friends, I thought I would share a message of encouragement and hope for whatever you might be facing today. This time of year is when many people around the world remember the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Bible doesn't actually record exactly when Jesus was born, and in fact it's quite unlikely that he was born this time of year, but the message of God coming to earth as a human being is the most inspiring message of all.

The Chaos Surrounding Jesus' Birth

2020 has been an interesting year, as I'm sure you would agree. I've seen more changes this year than any other year that I've lived. It's been a year of confusion, many people having different opinions about things, many different government instructions, restrictions that we've faced, and yet in many ways it reminds me of another similar year in history, one that we're told about in the Bible.

We read in Luke chapter 2, if you look at those first four verses, that there was a ruler named Caesar Augustus in the land of Judea, who gave very strange instructions to the people of that land. He said that everybody must return to their place of ancestry to register there.

Now I don't know what prompted him to give such strange instructions, and it probably made no sense, and for those of us who are familiar with these stories, it's possible for them to become so commonplace in our thinking and in our mind that we miss what it must have actually been like to be alive in those times.

Pause for a moment and imagine if the government told us that we had to all return to our place of ancestry, which for some of us may be thousands of miles away, on the other side of the world, to register there.

I'm sure there would be a lot of questions about, what sense does this make? How dare you? And yet, that's the kind of chaotic situation into which Jesus was born. When God came into the world, he came into a chaotic world, and that's a message of hope for us.

God Uses Chaos to Reveal His Greatness

See, God allows chaos in our lives to show us that he is far greater than everything else. Let me say that again. God allows chaos in the world and in our lives to show us that he is far greater than everything else, even the chaos.

And he is looking for people who will trust him to prove that he is greater than that chaos. See, as you read the context here in Luke chapter 1 and in Matthew chapter 1 and 2, we see that the angel of the Lord was guiding Jesus' parents every step along the way, allowing them to navigate through this chaos into the place of safety and into fulfilling God's plan for Jesus.

That's the message that each of us can take from this story. See, today we have something far greater than an angel guiding us every step along the way through the chaos. God has made available to us himself through the Holy Spirit.

If you receive God's Holy Spirit and daily seek for more of him, God will guide you through your chaotic circumstance and prove that he is greater in your life like he did in the life of Jesus. See, Jesus' life only got worse from an earthly standpoint after that.

The Cross Turns the Worst Event Into Salvation

And he ended his life, his life was ended in the most chaotic way imaginable. The only perfect, innocent, sinless man that ever lived on the face of this earth was killed in the most inhumane way possible.

His death on the cross is the worst event in history. And yet, for those who believe, it is the best event in history. It's the means of hope. It's the means of salvation. And that's what God wants to prove in every circumstance of your life as well, my dear friend.

Trusting God With the Future

As you reflect back on 2020 and look ahead to 2021, whether it's the worst season in your life or not, it can certainly be the best if you're willing to trust God. Because he's in the business of turning even the worst possible thing into the best possible thing.

I hope you will trust him today. If he could prove it in Jesus' life when he lived here on this earth as a human being, he can certainly prove it in your life as well if you will let him. Will you pray with me?

Praying for Hope and Redemption

Heavenly Father, I pray that you will prove in every single one of our lives that you are greater than all the chaos around us, all the mess around us, all the failure around us, all the sin around us.

I pray that you will prove in my life and the lives of everyone listening to this that you are a God of hope, a God of redemption, a God who turns the worst possible things into the very best. I pray you will do that in Jesus' name.

Amen. Thank you.