“Plus Ultra” (More beyond) is God’s plan for our lives. He wants the very best for us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. His plan is to “prosper us not to harm us to give us hope and a future.”The path the leads to that wonderful future is obedience. The path that leads to ultimate failure, shame, and grief is the path of disobedience. Deuteronomy 28 says, “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.”Although ultimate cursing is not the destiny of true believers in Christ, we still face God’s disapproval for disobedience. There are still consequences. But God’s dealing with us as believers is always to restore us and make us more fruitful. Even in His discipline “Plus Ultra” is his plan for us.
Billy Graham says it well; “The Bible says, ‘whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.’ If life were all easy, wouldn’t we become flabby? When a ship’s carpenter needed timber to make a mast for a sailing vessel, he did not cut it in the valley, but up on the mountainside where the trees had been buffeted by the winds. These trees, he knew, were the strongest of all. Hardship is not our choice; but if we face it bravely, it can toughen the fiber of our souls.“God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness. In His wisdom, He knows that an uncontrolled life is an unhappy life, so He puts reins on our wayward souls that they may be directed into the paths of righteousness.”