For you know that it was not with perishable things…that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ…Who was chosen before the creation of the world. 1 Peter 1:18-20

            Sometimes when we plan ahead for something, such as a long trip…we have a Plan A and a Plan B…just in case. If a certain thing doesn’t work out just right, we’ve got a backup plan.  But God never needs a Plan B.

            When Adam and Eve sinned, God was not thrown for a loop – He was not surprised.  Of course, He wanted Adam and Eve to live in perfection in the Garden of Eden, but God knew that Adam and Eve would succumb to Satan and fall into sin.  God never had a Plan B, because Plan A was prepared “…before the creation of the world.”  By this plan, Jesus Christ would shed His precious blood on the cross for the sins of the world.

            God’s Plan A is a display of amazing grace.  “For is it is by grace you have been saved through faith…not by works…” (Ephesians 2:8,9).  Before anyone could ask for it, the plan was already in place!  He promised it to Adam and Even way back in the garden in Genesis 3:15.  Satan would only bruise Christ’s heal, because the crucified Christ would rise again.  But Satan’s doom was already sealed, and victory over sin and hell would be given to all who repent of their sins, believe in Christ, and obey God’s Word.

            God’s Plan A is an active plan. Jesus, our High Priest, is alive forevermore and “is able to save completely those who come to God through him,” (Hebrews 7:25).  We can have confidence in this plan because God does not lie.  God will continue to work our His Plan A until the coming of Jesus Christ when we will be caught up in the air to be with Him forever.  

            It’s so easy to look around us and get caught up in the news of the day which seems to be getting worse and worse every time we turn the TV on.  God still doesn’t need to go to Plan B. He saw all this coming.  In Luke 21:25-28 we read: “There will be signs…On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity…People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world…When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

            In times of distress, worry, anxiety and fear, let us lift our eyes to Jesus.  The Psalmist says in Psalm 121:1-2, I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

            Let us, as Paul says, run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1,2.