Welcome to the Paul Tripp podcast, where pastor and best-selling author Dr. Paul David Tripp connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.

Your life hasn't worked according to your plan. In fact, last week probably didn't work according to your plan.

But there's no need to panic because your story is

being written by a God who is wiser and stronger than you. In today's episode, we'll listen to

another sermon from Paul on eternity, where he opens to the first chapter of First Peter to give

hope and encouragement even when life doesn't make sense. Here's Paul with living with a preparation mentality.

I don't know how much you've thought about this or not,

but your life hasn't worked according to your plan.

Last week didn't work according to your plan.

From the look of some of you, today didn't work according to your plan.

Your story is being written by another. I know that your life hasn't worked according to your plan.

I know another thing that you're always trying to figure your life out. It's an intensely human thing to do.

Everyone in this room, whether you realize or not, is a theologian.

Everyone in this room, whether you realize or not, is a theologian. Everyone in this room is a philosopher.

Everyone in this room is an archaeologist who digs through the mound of his existence in order to make sense out of his world.

And maybe the two most significant questions for a believer that rattles around in our minds and hearts all the time is this,

what in the world is God doing? Right here, right now. What is he doing? If you had a pencil and a piece of paper and you were going to write an answer to that, what is God working on? What is he doing

right now? What would you write? And maybe the corollary question is important as well.

What in the world is God doing? And how in the world am I to respond to it?

My dear father was a hardworking man.

He believed in the Protestant work ethic.

He believed that work wasn't a curse.

...