Proverb: Understanding God

Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Just as you'll never understand the mystery of life

forming in a pregnant woman,

So you'll never understand the mystery at work

in all that God does.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 

I found a wonderful, almost brand new sofa on Craigslist on Monday, bought it and brought it home, then introduced myself to my new backyard neighbor, and he and my daughter's friend muscled it into the house and set it up.  They then hauled out the old sofa and strapped it into the back of the truck so that I could take it to a relatively close-by thrift shop the next morning.  I really meant to take it on Tuesday, but things slipped past me and I didn't get it done.  This morning I opened the front door to go out and mow the front lawn and discovered... it was raining.  So - the now soaked sofa will go to the dump tomorrow rather than to a thift shop.  Why didn't I do what I was supposed to do yesterday?  I don't have a good answer for that.  Excuses, perhaps, but not a good answer.  That always causes me to ponder - why do I do the things I do??  I'm not surprised if other people don't quite understand what makes me tick - I hardly understand me either.

Solomon calls our attention to the fact that, just as we do not understand every minute detail of what is being accomplished in the womb of a woman as her pregnancy advances, so we will never completely understand the hows-whats-whys of the will and ways of God.  Saying that "He sees the bigger picture" may seem like a cliche, but it is the truth.  We are but one thread in a huge tapestry (thanks, Steven Spielberg, for that illustration), and we have no idea of the other forces at work in the formation of the finished product.  There are many times when I do not understand the whys and wherefores of God's providence, but He asks me to trust Him - to have faith.

There is a great deal more in life that we have to take by faith than just belief in God.  A wife has faith that when her husband says "I love you," he really means it.  I buy a certain product from a particular manufacturer because I have faith in their warranty claims.  I have faith in my surgeon, his education, and his skills when he says that I will be fine during my operation.  When I have to step onto an airplane (I absolutely HATE flying), I have to have faith that the pilot and his huge machine will carry me safely to my destination.  And yes, when God promises something through His Word, I exercise faith that although I don't understand how, I will have faith in Who.