Lyrics
Now I Know Your Plan
Read together: Genesis 15:1–21; Jeremiah 34:18–20; Hebrews 6:13–20; Galatians 3:6–9, 13–14
Have you ever trusted God without understanding what He was doing? Most believers have. This song begins there, with Abraham: Like Abraham, I don't always understand how the stars could count the nations born from just one man.
It then takes us into one of the most mysterious and beautiful scenes in the Old Testament. Read Genesis 15:1–21. God told the aging, childless Abram to look up at the night sky and count the stars if he could. "So shall your offspring be." And Abram believed the Lord, "and He credited it to him as righteousness." Then Abram asked how he could know God would keep His promise. God's answer was strange to modern ears: bring a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon. Abram cut the larger animals in half and arranged the halves opposite each other.
What was happening? In the ancient world, covenants were sometimes made by walking between the pieces of slain animals. The meaning was serious: "May this be done to me if I break this covenant." Read Jeremiah 34:18–20, where God refers to that same practice and its consequences.
But here is the astonishing part. As the sun set, Abram fell into a deep sleep. And then "a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the pieces." God alone passed through. Abram did not. The song captures it: Abraham thought he'd walk the path to keep the vow alone, but You passed between the pieces, fire and smoke Your throne. God bound Himself to the promise. In effect, He said, "If this covenant is broken, let it fall on Me."
The bridge makes the connection: Sign of grace that You would bear the covenant or die. From that promise to the cross, Lord, Your mercy had begun—You fulfilled it through Your only, blameless Son. That night under the stars pointed forward to Calvary. Abraham's descendants did break covenant again and again, and so have we. But God took the curse upon Himself in Jesus.
Read Galatians 3:6–9, 13–14. Paul says that those who have faith are children of Abraham, and that the gospel was preached in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." Then: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us… so that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus." The stars Abraham could not count include people from every tribe and land who trust Jesus.
Read Hebrews 6:13–20. When God made His promise to Abraham, "since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself." Our hope rests on the unchangeable character of God, "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
That is why the final chorus can say, Now, my God, I understand how perfect is Your plan. Not that every question is answered, but that the heart of God's plan is clear: He keeps His promises, even at the cost of His own Son. Thank You, Lord, for calling even such a sinful man!
If you are struggling to trust God's plan for your life, look at Genesis 15. Look at the cross. The God who passed between the pieces will not abandon His promises to you.
A moment to respond: Go outside on a clear night and look at the stars. Read Genesis 15:5–6 and thank God that, through faith in Jesus, you are counted among Abraham's descendants. Then name one area where you don't understand God's plan, and tell Him you will trust Him anyway.
Let's pray: Lord, like Abraham, we don't always understand. But You have shown us Your faithfulness. Thank You for passing between the pieces and binding Yourself to Your promise. Thank You for fulfilling that promise through Jesus, who bore the curse for us. Help us trust You as Abraham did. Thank You for calling sinners like us. Amen.
Our desire at UnrelentingJesus is that you would see the cross as the place where God kept His word—and trust Him with every part of His plan for you.
