It happens now and then. Suddenly the words of a song seem to crystallize in your brain. So this morning, barely awake, I hear:
‘That’s the way God planned it
That’s the way God wants it to be.’
Where did that come from? Probably that part of my psyche that will forever belong to the Seventies I am thinking. Actually it was from 1969 and the singer was Billy Preston. He is sometimes called the ‘Fifth Beatle’ because of his keyboard work on some of their later songs, notably Get Back. But That’s The Way God Planned It was what we used to call a ‘hit’ in many countries and became Billy Preston’s signature song.
He was a committed Christian and maintained his faith despite being sexually abused as a child and a troubled adult life which included a divorce, a struggle with his sexuality and battle with drug addiction. You have to ask, is that the way God planned it? That would be difficult for many people to accept but obviously Billy never let go of the conviction that through it all there was a loving Presence working out His good purpose for his life.
But this doesn’t explain why his words came to me this morning. I mean it must be decades since I last heard the song. And I didn’t immediately connect it with Billy Preston. I had to resort to Google for that. Maybe it was because yesterday was a big day for planning. Another clinic at the Beatson to arrange the final phase of my treatment which will be a stem cell transplant. There are quite a few procedures that have to be followed before we get to that point not least the ‘harvesting’ of my stem cells for the transplantation. Thus the planning and along the way there will be committed professionals who will support and direct. There is good reason then for me to be confident at that level. But I know also that the ‘everlasting arms’ spoken of by Moses to his people (Deuteronomy 33: 27) are also supporting and directing. God’s plan for my life will continue to unfold.
Does it bother me that this plan seems to include what I’ve been going through since March? It certainly hasn’t been easy and in the circumstances that led to me being hospitalised a few weeks ago I was never so low. But you have to remember the God who is revealed in Jesus. He is not just the God of sunshine and rainbows but the God of Calvary when His love for the whole of humankind was revealed at its most profound. In the sufferings of Jesus on the cross God made it possible for men and women to be forgiven, to be renewed at the deepest level of their lives and to face death with a steady eye knowing that a place in the Eternal Kingdom awaits. That’s the way God planned it , the salvation of the world, and I know that whatever lies ahead for me even in the deepest darkness the everlasting arms will never be withdrawn.
