Sometimes the Bible says something that just.....well, it just raises questions that are uncomfortable. Today I was reading Proverbs 3 and verses 7 and 8 say this:
And the only thing I can offer in response is: "I don't know. I do not understand everything that God says because he is God ---and I am not. He made the human mind, he can certainly baffle it if he wants." I have to kind of just agree not to understand...but to stand in faith that God knows what he is doing and what he plans to do. If I pretended to understand it all, I would be breaking the first caveat in the passage: "Don't be impressed with your own wisdom." What am I supposed to do instead? Trust and fear God and live a life in obedience to what he tells me I should be doing. The verse does NOT say when he will do the healing. There is no promise of immediacy or even that it will happen in my life here and now.
I know without a doubt that there is a God in heaven who is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. I know he loves me. I know he is doing what is best for me. I know he knows and understands every detail about me and that he has promised wonderful things which are coming in the future. I know that the blood of Jesus has covered and blotted out my sins and that as a result I stand before him blameless. I know that I will spend eternity with him in a wonderful place that he is preparing for all who love him. I also know that, if it was what was best for me and what was in accordance with his plans for me, then he could heal me in a heartbeat.
And those points of knowledge have to be enough. They ARE enough. God will someday explain to me why it is he did not see fit to heal me. You know what? Maybe that isn't true. Maybe when I can see the whole picture--the tapestry from the top instead of from the bottom--I will understand and will be in awed amazement at the perfection of his ways and plans. And no explanations will be necessary.
The Bible says that "without faith, it is impossible to please God." I think that God is honored by my trust in his love and his wisdom. I think he is pleased when I read verses that I don't understand and instead of it rocking and capsizing my boat, I instead row out into the deeper waters of faith and entrust myself completely to his care.
I have had a LOT of surgery and not once did I seriously question my surgeon's ability to be able to help me. I trusted that his or her knowledge of my body was greater than my own knowledge of it and I did not question their qualification to fix the problem they were aiming to fix. Now, I have had some botched up surgery.....but then my surgeons were not God. God doesn't make mistakes---and he doesn't lie. But he also does not reveal everything he is doing to us and why. I know he is God. He is good. And he knows everything about everything that there is to know. I just have to trust and obey him.
And further along we will see why
(listen to the words of the above video.)
Don't be impressed with your own wisdom.And then I said to myself, "Is this a prescription for health? You mean if I am humble, fear the Lord and do the right things, I will be healed? Is this a promise? It sounds like a promise." And if it is a promise then Job's friends were not far from wrong. And if it is a promise then I am no doing so well as a believer because if I was, then I would be well. Questions like these are uncomfortable. They are uncomfortable if they come from myself and they are uncomfortable if an unbeliever throws them at me as evidence that the Bible is not true.
Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
Then you will have healing for your body
and strength for your bones.
And the only thing I can offer in response is: "I don't know. I do not understand everything that God says because he is God ---and I am not. He made the human mind, he can certainly baffle it if he wants." I have to kind of just agree not to understand...but to stand in faith that God knows what he is doing and what he plans to do. If I pretended to understand it all, I would be breaking the first caveat in the passage: "Don't be impressed with your own wisdom." What am I supposed to do instead? Trust and fear God and live a life in obedience to what he tells me I should be doing. The verse does NOT say when he will do the healing. There is no promise of immediacy or even that it will happen in my life here and now.
I know without a doubt that there is a God in heaven who is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. I know he loves me. I know he is doing what is best for me. I know he knows and understands every detail about me and that he has promised wonderful things which are coming in the future. I know that the blood of Jesus has covered and blotted out my sins and that as a result I stand before him blameless. I know that I will spend eternity with him in a wonderful place that he is preparing for all who love him. I also know that, if it was what was best for me and what was in accordance with his plans for me, then he could heal me in a heartbeat.
And those points of knowledge have to be enough. They ARE enough. God will someday explain to me why it is he did not see fit to heal me. You know what? Maybe that isn't true. Maybe when I can see the whole picture--the tapestry from the top instead of from the bottom--I will understand and will be in awed amazement at the perfection of his ways and plans. And no explanations will be necessary.
The Bible says that "without faith, it is impossible to please God." I think that God is honored by my trust in his love and his wisdom. I think he is pleased when I read verses that I don't understand and instead of it rocking and capsizing my boat, I instead row out into the deeper waters of faith and entrust myself completely to his care.
I have had a LOT of surgery and not once did I seriously question my surgeon's ability to be able to help me. I trusted that his or her knowledge of my body was greater than my own knowledge of it and I did not question their qualification to fix the problem they were aiming to fix. Now, I have had some botched up surgery.....but then my surgeons were not God. God doesn't make mistakes---and he doesn't lie. But he also does not reveal everything he is doing to us and why. I know he is God. He is good. And he knows everything about everything that there is to know. I just have to trust and obey him.
And further along we will see why
(listen to the words of the above video.)
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