It probably wasn’t really breaking news—yet it was still significant.

After all, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had made it clear, as far back as April 2022, that the country’s fourth-generation leadership had chosen Mr. Lawrence Wong to be the next prime minister.

What was new in the latest announcement by PM Lee was a more definite idea of when this was likely to happen: Mr. Lee indicated that he would hand over the reins before the next General Election, which has to be called by November 2025.

While there were no surprises, the news must have prompted some to ask again: What’s going to happen when the new PM takes over? What changes will we see? How will it affect the future of Singapore?

No doubt there will be people on different sides. Some will look forward to it, some will be cautious, and some will be critical—with Christians in all three camps.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. Christians are free to decide which party or politician they want to support and vote for.

But given the growing focus around the world on good and bad governance, some may feel an extra measure of concern about Singapore’s future. And they might ask questions like: What is God’s will for this nation? How can we as a nation avoid falling afoul of this will—or ensure that we are aligned with it? And how can we respond to the transition in leadership as individual followers of God and as a body of Christ?

These are questions that we often ask for ourselves when making important decisions or plans. But, more often than not, we don’t seem to get a clear answer. And perhaps it’s because we might be looking at God’s will with human instead of divine eyes.

For some—perhaps many!—of us, the idea of God’s will works this way: God has a good fixed plan, and it’s our job to find out what it is and to make the right decisions so that we follow His script. If we make a bad one—like choosing a bad leader to lead the nation, say—then we effectively break away from His plan and risk the prospect (or maybe even punishment) of bringing chaos upon ourselves.

But the national history of God’s people didn’t work like that. Leaf through the books of 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and you’ll find a fair share of good and bad kings. Or, to be more accurate, many bad kings and a scattering of good ones.

To be sure, the Israelites often suffered as a result: bad kings led the nation to disobedience and ruin. But they also benefited from good kings, who brought God’s blessings of protection, prosperity, and peace.

Whether good or bad, they were all, in hindsight, part of God’s plan. Over the course of biblical history, we can see this plan unfolding as He taught His people to understand what it really meant to be holy. He put in place good kings who led them on the path of obedience. And He showed them how He would eventually save them from the penalty of sin, once and for all, through the sacrifice of His own son Jesus.

Yet, this doesn’t mean that God’s will operates entirely independently of us, such that we become inconsequential players on His stage.

Rather, God chooses to fulfil His will through us, engaging and relating with us as we obey and disobey Him, as we stray away and turn back to Him.

Our God is a creative God. He is not one who throws up His hands in despair or turns away in disgust when we deviate from His script and spoil His perfect plan. Rather, He works with us, His special creation; He takes our obedience and disobedience, our good and bad choices, our sinful and godly actions, and makes them all part of His will.

One day, in the near or eternal future, we will look back and marvel at the divine paradox of a perfect will that was unchanging and inexorable, and yet had interacted with the ever-changing hearts and hands of imperfect men.

The mystery of God’s will being fulfilled through man’s will can be seen in Jesus’ example: He knew God’s will for Him and for the world, and He made the choice to fulfil it voluntarily and obediently. Thus He prayed to His Father: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

What does all this mean for us now? It means that we can take great comfort in the rock-solid truth that God remains fully in control of our nation’s future. And we can pray for our leaders to make decisions that please Him and lead the nation on the right path, knowing that “the authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1, see also 1 Timothy 2:1–2). We can take heart that God has our best interests at heart, for He loves us dearly.

Worried about what’s happening around us in Singapore and in the world? Fear not, it’s all part of His plan.

O God, we praise You that You are always in control of our nation’s destiny and future. Teach us to submit to Your sovereign will by obeying You, doing what is right and pleasing to You, and seeking to be holy in all we do.