Read Isaiah 45:5–7, 12

“I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.” (Isaiah 45:12)

It may seem to many that the One who made us is too far removed to concern Himself with such tiny details of life on this old globe. But that is not the case. His mysterious plan is running its course right on schedule, exactly as He decreed it.

This world is not out of control, spinning wildly through space. Nor are earth’s inhabitants at the mercy of some blind, random fate. When God created the world and set the stars in space, He also established the course of this world and His plan for humanity.

Not all believe this, obviously. To some, this teaching is disturbing and distasteful. And so they go searching for other gods. But there is only one God, and He is responsible for the sovereignly decreed plan over this earth.

I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will arm you, though you have not known Me,
So that people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:5–7 NASB)

Through Isaiah’s pen the Lord declares that He is the one who forms light and creates darkness, causes well-being and creates calamity. This is another of those “unexplainables.” I don’t know why a tornado destroys one neighborhood and not another. I just know that even in this calamity God’s plan is not frustrated or altered. Either that, or He isn’t God. He is not sitting on the edge of heaven, wondering what will happen next. That’s not the God of the Scriptures. So while we cannot fathom the “Why?” of this age-old question, we do know that Scripture states that God is not surprised by calamity. Somehow or other, it’s all part of His mysterious will.

Taken from The Mystery of God's Will by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1999 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com