“Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” – Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NET Bible)
What is the greatest mystery you have ever explored?
A good “who done it” story can be captivating and thrilling. As you piece together the clues and slowly start to figure everything out…or maybe just think you are getting it until an unexpected twist changes everything.
Life is full of mysteries, like what’s going on inside a blackhole, who shot JFK, and how Kevin Costner keeps getting work. Some of the mysteries of life we may eventually explain, but one will largely remain a mystery. What are the ways of God?
As we read in Isaiah 55:
“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
God knows more, is wiser, is mightier, is more just, is more loving, and is more righteous than we are. As much as we may try to explain God, we simply can’t comprehend Him.
I’m reminded of my daughter when she was about three years old. She was taking a bath and said the water was too cold. So, I turned on the water, but told her she had to stay on the other end of the tub because it was going to be really hot. She asked why I was using hot water instead of warm water.
So, I explained the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics to her.
If you chuckled at that, you probably had a similar thought as my wife, who rolled her eyes at me and asked why I was explaining thermodynamics to a 3-year-old.
Why is that silly?
Simply put, a 3-year-old doesn’t have the ability to understand thermodynamics. They have enough trouble understanding that hot will hurt, let alone the mechanisms and laws that control why. We are kind of like the 3-year-old when it comes to God. But, wait…
I had a thought when I read our passage from Ecclesiastes, today.
“We’ve come a long way in understanding how wind moves and how babies form.”
We might be tempted to think that we are getting closer to understanding God’s ways. Worse, yet, it seems that for some, the more they understand about God’s creation, the more they dismiss the very God who created it. We must resist that temptation.
We are kind of like the 3-year-old when it comes to God, except it isn’t just a matter of smarts. Even if we were as smart as God sin would corrupt our ability to understand Him. We must remain humble towards God.
So, What Do We Do?
We accept what we know and don’t know about God. Some things He has chosen to reveal and explain to us. Some things He has not. He does this through His Word. So, we accept what God reveals as true and we accept that what He doesn’t reveal, we probably won’t understand. We embrace the mystery.
Heavenly Father,
Your ways are not our ways and Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Even as we grow in our understanding of Your creation, help us to remain humble before You.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
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