To Encourage You

Genesis 18:25 “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

I don’t know about you, but there are many things about God and the Word of God that I don’t understand.  That bothers some people – a lot!  Does it bother you?  I suppose one way of looking at this is to say that if you and I did understand everything, if our mental capacity was great enough to understand all there is to know about these things, then it wouldn’t say much about the greatness of God, for it would bring Him down to our level. This will never be the case, however, for God’s greatness, His knowledge, and His being are infinitely greater than anything we can conceive. He’s told us all this with these words: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For 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). 

In the verse above from Genesis 18 we have the words of Abraham as he wrestled with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.  God had declared that He was going to destroy these cities because of their wickedness. Abraham then pleads with God to hold off.  He asks God to spare these cities if there were just 50 righteous people there.  Then he lowers this to 45, then 40, 30, 20, and finally 10.  As he pleads with God about this matter, he asks what is actually a rhetorical question in verse 25.  He asks this of God: “Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?”  Of course, the answer to that question is “Yes,” for God alone is perfect in all of His attributes, among which are His justice, His righteousness, His mercy, and His love.  When God acts, He acts on the basis of His perfection, and we can be sure of this whether or not we understand it.

Job wrestled with this as he endured unbelievable suffering. He couldn’t make sense of it, and although his friends thought they understood, God made it clear when He rebuked them that they knew no more – and perhaps less – than Job.   Then when God finally answers Job, He doesn’t cajole him, pity him, or try to help him to know the unknowable. No, He begins with these words: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Dress for action like a man; I will question you and you make known to me” (John 38:2-3). And then God answers Job’s questions with some questions of His own, none of which Job had the answer to. 

Jesus showed this same wisdom, as He so often questioned men with His own questions as they tried to trip Him up with questions of their own.  So often as He did this, they were left speechless, for they saw that here was One “whose understanding no one can fathom” (Isaiah 40:28). 

So, in light of this, what do we do when we face situations we can’t understand and when questions arise in our mind, as they so often do, about God, life, suffering, etc., that just make no sense to us?  Well, we can be like those who, in their ignorance, mocked, ridiculed, and walked away from the Savior when they did not understand Him.  We can argue about things we don’t understand with others who don’t understand either. Or we can pray, wait on, and trust in this One whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours as the heavens are above the earth.  Perhaps He will reveal to us at the time that is best for us those things that we can’t understand right now.  Surely, He does this as we seek Him with a teachable spirit, and as we study His Word, pray, and learn from others who have learned some things that we’ve not learned yet.  But even if there are things that we’ll never understand until we see Him face to face, we can trust this One Who knows all things and whose understanding no one can fathom.  That’s one reason our all-knowing Father in heaven has told us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). And while there are other options that may make sense to us, they make little sense to the only One Who really knows, which makes any other option a foolish one at best.