An old country song you may or may not know is titled, "Farther Along." The gist is that we may not understand what God is doing in our trials and tribulations, but farther along in our lives (or after) we will and it will be okay. "Cheer up, my brother," the chorus says, "Live in the sunshine. We'll understand it all by and by." Maybe. Possibly. I don't object. But there is a concept behind it that bothers me. The idea is that if we don't understand what God is doing, He just might be wrong.
Right? Isn't that what we hear? "What is God doing?! Why is He allowing this??!" Or, "If this is how God does things, I'm not sure I want anything to do with Him." Because I don't understand it. "You tell me He works all things together for good, but I don't see it." That's arrogant, isn't it? "If I don't understand it, it isn't true." Consider, for instance, those three guys in Babylon. When challenged, "What god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?" (Dan 3:15), they answered that God was able, "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Dan 3:15-18). They didn't care if they understood the details. They didn't care if God would or would not save them. They trusted God and Him alone. Consider Jesus, who prayed in the garden, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me," but concluded, "yet not My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Jesus didn't need God to agree with Him. He wanted, above all, His Father's will because His Father was always right.
The truth is, the finite can never fully grasp the infinite. We, limited human beings, will never fully understand the unlimited Divine Being. To expect to do so is foolish. To demand it is dangerous. To refuse to accept it if we don't can be fatal. It just might be that "farther along" we'll understand all ... but it doesn't really matter as long as we understand that God is always right and what He does is always good. That's all we need to know. "I think the God you find in the pages of Scripture is an evil and vindictive god." That sounds dangerously close to what Jesus called "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" which, we're all aware, is a dangerous place to stand, especially if you just don't understand. Especially if that is exactly the God of the Bible. Subjecting God to your inspection and your standards is the height of arrogance.
3 comments:
your closing sentence..boom drop the mic!
Great post Stan
It is always a challenge for us to not try to put restrict God in some way, because we always have that little voice saying, "I will be like the Most High." We must daily, hourly humble ourselves and rejoice that He isn't restrained by us.
Your final line is the perfect summation, Stan. It is impossible for us to even know--much less understand--all that God is doing according to His sovereign purposes. Rather than arrogantly demanding that God clarify things for us (especially before we will even believe in Him!), we are told to adopt a trusting dependence upon God “as a little child” (Mark 10:15). Personally, the older I get, I more I have found it reassuring to have a God who is way, way, WAY (an infinite number of “way’s”) past me in intelligence, wisdom, and power because that is a God I know I can trust completely--rather than being one who is just one or two steps ahead of me.
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