The Mystery of God's Ways
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29
I have a friend who has this Bible reference tattooed on the inside of her wrist. It’s a consistent reminder that many of God’s ways are mysterious if not frustrating. As one who has known more than her share of suffering, her decision to be inked in that way is understandable.
Even with my theological training and biblical knowledge, I have to admit that there is much about God’s dealings I don’t understand. For example, why does He permit so much heartache and misery in the world?
Why are there school shootings and why are there deadly tornadoes? Why does He allow faithful and faith-filled believers to be martyred?
Why doesn’t He answer reasonable prayers immediately and exactly as requested? Why does He allow the elderly who are struggling with dementia to continue living when they long to die and why does He allow the young who are longing to live to face terminal cancer?
Those perplexing questions and others like them have haunted believers for centuries. And, at times, they have resulted in some actually abandoning the faith.
God’s will and God’s ways are often a baffling mystery and we long to have that mystery solved. On multiple occasions, I have found myself thinking, “I could handle this if I could only know why.”
Why, God?
Author Philip Yancy notes that, for even the most mature, the question that never goes away is, “Why, God?”
Even for the most mature, the question that never goes away is, Why, God?”
We long for an explanation. We ache for what happens to make sense. Yet the fact is that such understanding is beyond our intellectual pay grade.
We simply don’t have the capacity to grasp all the factors at play when it comes to divine decisions. Our perspective is limited and our comprehension is finite.
God clearly states, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Which brings us back to Deuteronomy 29:29. Some things are going to remain a secret for the time being. We won’t understand the reason why they happen. We’ll simply have to live in the mystery.
Some things are going to remain a secret for the time being. We won’t understand the reason why they happen. We’ll simply have to live in the mystery.
Yet we can have the confidence that our God is working all things together not only for His glory but for our good. And one day…one day…we will know the reason why He did what He did.
And that revelation will not only answer all of our questions; it will bring us to our knees as we come to see just how wondrous His plan was.
PRAYER
Lord, I acknowledge that all too often I voice my frustration with what happens. I find myself grumbling, “This makes no sense. What in the world is God doing?” Yet, in my saner moments, I have to admit that I am foolish when I demand answers of One who is working out a master plan. May I make room for the secret things until You see fit to reveal what was behind Your mysterious ways.
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