GOD'S PURPOSE interrupts, intervenes, upsets, upturns, overwhelms, overrides, overcomes, overthrows, outranks, outweighs, outlasts, and outlives man's plans. PERIOD. So, when man's plans make you feel discouraged, depressed, defeated, or doubt-filled, don't linger. For THE LORD knows the big picture of His divine providence, and power, protection, and provision, and will see that HIS PURPOSE— not man's plans or Satan's mission— ultimately PREVAILS.

Has anything painfully shocking ever happened in your life? Something that rocked you to your core? A moment or a season when all of a sudden life turned to death?

"[Leah] conceived again and when she gave birth to a son she said, ' This time I will praise the Lord.' So she named him Judah." (Genesis 29:35; italics mine) As a woman, my heart goes out to Leah. Her marriage to Jacob was contrived by her self-motivated father, Laban, through trickery and deceit, resulting in a union with a man who didn't love her as he did another. This upsetting reality couldn't be denied. If it's been a while since you've read this story, it's in Genesis 29-30. It will...