Job, in today’s lesson from the Hebrew scriptures, testifies to the perseverance and steadfast love and mercy (hesed) of God in saying, “I know . . . that no purpose of yours [God] can be thwarted.” No matter where or how we wander away from the path of Life, God continues to reach out and somehow draw us back into the saving embrace of Divine Love. Thomas Merton knew how easy it is for us to get off track. He acknowledged, “ . . . the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. . . .” That reminds me of the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac (Gen.22:1-14)—Abraham thought it was what God wanted him to do so he went about trying to do it, but God stopped him and provided a ram for the sacrifice. I know I’ve experienced that same door shutting in my face when I was sure I was on the right path, only to come to trust that God’s purpose for me is quite different from what I had envisioned. Perhaps you have too. Just think about Paul’s murderous intent on the way to Damascus when he was turned completely around by the Light of Christ (Acts 9:1-19). In one way or another, God’s purpose can not be thwarted.

The Joseph story, (Gen.37:2—50:26), also demonstrates that, in the long run, God’s purpose can not be thwarted. No matter what Joseph’s brothers had intended, Joseph recognized how God had used the circumstances over the years for good (50:20)—to save the Israelites and the Egyptians from famine. We might consider the persecution of the early Christians from a similar perspective, thereby providing for the spread of the gospel far and wide.

We, of course, generally can’t see the forest for the trees in our everyday lives. No doubt Abraham did not recognize God’s purpose as he climbed the mountain carrying the fire and the knife, nor Paul when he was blinded by God’s glory, not Joseph sitting in prison, nor the Christians in the Coliseum. God’s purpose continues to be a mystery to us day by day. It only becomes visible through the eyes of faith, as Merton concludes his prayer (above): “I know . . . that . . . you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” The Holy One was with Job every day of his life, just as God is with us here and now whether we are aware of it or not. “God is working his purpose out,” as Hymn #534 proclaims,” . . . and the time is drawing near . . . when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.”