GOD CAN'T: God Can't Fail - Chris Workman

The pain of failed plans is real, and the Luchinan family’s story gives that pain a face. Good people poured out paperwork, money, hospitality, prayer, and hope, and still the plan did not go the way anybody wanted. Human plans often run into factors outside human control, and rejection letters, wandering children, broken five year plans, sickness, and loss can make the future feel like it is headed for the trash can.

God’s plans are not like that. God cannot fail in his plans because God is omnipotent. The Almighty has all power, and anything God wills to do, God can do. Psalm 33 shows Yahweh speaking the heavens into being, gathering the sea into jars, and ruling not only galaxies and black holes but also nations, rulers, governments, and ordinary lives at ground level. The Lord foils the plans of the nations, but “the plans of the Lord stand firm forever.”

God does not make plans and then hope circumstances cooperate. Creation, the old covenant, the coming of Christ, the cross, and the final restoration were never divine improvisations after something went wrong. Every stage of God’s plan fulfilled its purpose, even when human beings could not understand the purpose at the time. Job had to lay down his protest signs before the God whose wisdom was too wonderful for him to know.

Failed human plans are often part of God’s plans succeeding. Joseph did not plan to be sold, falsely accused, and locked in an Egyptian prison, but God used even the evil intentions of his brothers for the saving of many lives. Moses did not plan to stand trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, but that crisis became the road to God’s greatest miracle up to that point. What looks like a detour can become the very road God uses to lead into the future he is preparing.

Prayer, sickness, and death raise hard questions, but bad theology makes those questions heavier than Scripture does. The Bible never teaches that every illness comes from a lack of faith, and Paul’s thorn in the flesh shows that God may withhold temporary healing in order to deepen dependence on grace. God’s promise of healing finally reaches beyond temporary relief to resurrection. Since God’s purposes cannot fail, evil cannot ultimately win. Cancer does not win. War does not win. Death does not get the last word. Life will swallow up death because God’s good purposes for his creation cannot be stopped.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s plans never hit failure God’s omnipotence means that no purpose of his can be thwarted. Human plans depend on cooperation from circumstances, governments, bodies, relationships, and time, but God’s purpose stands over all of them. The believer’s comfort is not that life will follow the preferred script, but that God’s good purpose cannot be shoved off course. [04:23]
• 2. Failed plans can serve God’s purpose Joseph’s story shows that evil intentions and shattered expectations do not get the final interpretation of a life. His brothers meant harm, but God meant good, and the same event carried two very different purposes. The failure of Joseph’s personal plan became the path by which God saved many lives. [17:21]
• 3. Detours may become God’s roads The Red Sea looked like proof that the plan had collapsed, with water in front and an army behind. Yet that trapped place became the exact place where God made a way forward. A setback is not automatically evidence that God is absent, because the road God prepares may begin where human sight runs out. [19:44]
• 4. Bad theology deepens suffering’s wounds The claim that every illness comes from weak faith puts unbearable weight on those who are already suffering. Scripture calls for faith filled prayer, but it does not promise that every disease will be cured in this life. Paul’s thorn in the flesh shows that unanswered pleas can become a place where grace, dependence, and divine strength are made painfully clear. [24:24]
• 5. Resurrection outlasts every enemy Temporary healing is good, but resurrection is bigger. Death may take the body for a time, but death does not get the last word over those whom Christ will raise. Cancer, Alzheimer’s, violence, and war may wound deeply, but none of them can finally defeat God’s purpose to swallow death with life. [29:38]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:27] - The Luchinan Family’s Failed Plan
• [03:20] - God Cannot Fail in His Plans
• [04:23] - The Almighty Has All Power
• [05:46] - Psalm 33 and God’s Sovereignty
• [08:13] - The Lord’s Purposes Stand Forever
• [10:37] - God Never Goes Back to the Drawing Board
• [12:15] - Job Lays Down His Protest Signs
• [15:17] - Failed Plans Within God’s Plan
• [16:18] - Joseph’s Pain and God’s Good Purpose
• [18:34] - Moses Trapped at the Red Sea
• [22:18] - Prayer, Healing, and Bad Theology
• [27:32] - Evil Cannot Ultimately Win
• [30:55] - How God’s Victory Shapes Life
• [32:09] - Trusting God With the Future

Bible Reading

Psalm 33:6-11
“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” [05:59] [06:27] [08:13]

Genesis 50:20
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” [17:27]

Job 42:2
“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” [12:39]

Proverbs 19:21
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” [13:58]

Isaiah 14:26-27
“This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” [10:00]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 33:6-11, what actions show the Lord’s power over both creation and the nations?
2. According to Proverbs 19:21, what is the contrast between a person’s plans and the Lord’s purpose? [13:58]
3. In Joseph’s words in Genesis 50:20, what two different intentions were present in the same event? [17:27]
4. What examples were given of life plans that can fall apart or go in an unexpected direction? [02:43]

Interpretation questions

1. If the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, what does that suggest about the meaning of setbacks that seem final to human eyes? [09:24]
2. Joseph said his brothers intended harm, but God intended good. How can one painful event carry both human evil and God’s good purpose at the same time? [17:27]
3. Job confessed that no purpose of God can be thwarted. How might that kind of confession change the way someone responds when life makes no sense? [13:28]
4. Scripture does not teach that every illness comes from weak faith. How does that protect suffering people from carrying false guilt? [24:24]

Application questions

1. Where has a personal plan failed recently—family, work, health, finances, or the future—and what has been the hardest part of trusting that God’s purpose is still moving forward? [15:38]
2. A detour may become the very road God uses. Is there a disappointment in life that still feels like a dead end? What might it look like to bring that specific situation to God instead of assuming the future is ruined? [20:29]
3. Many people have prayed hard for something good and still not seen the answer they hoped for. How has unanswered prayer affected trust in God, and what helps keep prayer honest instead of distant? [22:18]
4. Bad theology can deepen suffering’s wounds. Has there ever been a time when someone’s words about faith, healing, or suffering made pain heavier instead of lighter? What would have been more true and more compassionate? [24:24]
5. If evil cannot ultimately win, how could that shape the way someone faces a fearful situation right now—whether grief, injustice, sickness, or discouragement? [27:32]
6. Resurrection is bigger than temporary relief. How does the promise that “the Lord will raise them up” speak into present fears about death, disease, or losing someone deeply loved? [29:38]
7. Trusting God with the plan for life is not vague; it touches real fears about tomorrow. What is one area of the future that needs to be surrendered into Jesus’ hands this week? [32:17]