08/01/2018
Do you really know what tomorrow will bring you? Oh you think that you can surmise it based on the events of today, but in fact we can not. Life is fluid and ever changing, and many things are understood only by God Himself. So how does not knowing tomorrow make you feel, less human or more human? Does not being able to fully understand the world or something in it turn you towards God, or cause you to feel alone and insignificant?
“Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."”
James 4:15 ESV
There are things that happen in our lives that we can’t determine by our own understanding and reasoning. This drives us crazy because we like to think that we have the answer to everything, and that there is nothing we can’t know... but there are mysteries, and unforeseen happenings that occur. These we need to leave in the realm, and hands, of God, and yet, we see learned men straining through the millennia to understand them... all because they can’t admit they do not know... nor can they allow themselves to conclude that God exists, and is greater than they are.
It was December 26th, 2004, and people were just beginning their day when calamity struck. The Indian Ocean fell back from the beaches, and then rushed forward in a massive tsunami. By the time all was done there were an estimated 280,000 people dead, and millions upon millions homeless or in shock. They all had gone to bed the night before with no idea that tomorrow would bring such devastation as this. They couldn’t have known what was about to happen in their lives.
Almost immediately scientists began to talk about placing more warning buoys in the ocean, censors on the ocean floor, and doing other things that might help them predict these occurrences in the future, but in fact, that is just a warning that something has occurred, and not absolute control or understanding in any way... it is our attempt to grasp what we can’t.
This was just a dramatic example of what occurs in lesser ways every day in our lives. We leave our home to go to work, but end up in the hospital because a drunk driver was trying to make his way home impaired, or suddenly our car stalls in traffic and we have to call our boss to say we will be late, or the minute we walk out the door our spouse has a heart attack... this is life, and it is also how regardless of our efforts there will be occurrences we don’t foresee, or understand.
So are we just lost? Are we helpless like a piece of driftwood on a raging sea? Does our life boil down to chance, fate, karma, luck, happenstance, or some other attempt to define what we can’t know? Is there no hope for us? Well, the answer is that there is more than just hope, there is faith in God the creator, and He is active in our lives every day. He understands, and He helps us...
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 ESV
And in our faith in Him He gives us hope...
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4 ESV
We might not know what tomorrow will bring, or even the next instant, but we aren’t left to our own devices; we aren’t doomed to study endlessly trying to understand those things that are beyond us so that we can feel like we are in control, or so that we don’t have to admit to ourselves that we are not the masters of our lives and universe. Friends, it is alright to be a child of God, it is alright to admit that He created us, it is perfectly alright to accept that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and give us hope, and it is good to know that the Holy Spirit provides us comfort and understanding.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
Searching for solutions to problems is a good thing, it is a human trait, but at some point we must be able to discern that a thing in life, and the world, is beyond us. Then, rather than slipping into despair, or risking our sanity in continued pursuit of it, we need to turn to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and say “this is yours... help me!”
Death... great illness... tragic disability... so many of life’s unexplained happenings that only God can help us through. In our faith in Him, and Jesus Christ, we find the peace that our own quest for understanding lacks. We find the answers to the unfathomable... reason amidst the mystery.
“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. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
Are you ready to turn away from your own hapless efforts, and look to God for His strength and understanding?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the ability to reason my way through many of life’s problems, and mysteries, but thank you more Holy Father, for those things that I am unable to know, because they lead me to you. In my times of struggle when I am frothing, and beating myself up against a divine mystery, I thank you for reassuring me, and taking that thing into your hands. You allow me to lean on your understanding and great wisdom, and permit me to take comfort in letting go to you. I find peace in your promises, and feel more alive, more human, by my doing so. In my trusting you I experience life more abundantly, and I am able to enjoy those things I have come to understand. Satan would have me think that I am less when you are more, but nothing could be further from the truth Father. I am lifted up in your glory, strengthened by your endless power, and made brilliant by your Holy Spirit that reveals you to me. In your arms I am comforted, and in your wisdom I am at rest. You are my God, and my strong tower in all things. Mighty are you, and greatly to be praised. Holy, Holy, Holy are you the God of wisdom and understanding... my port in the roiling seas that crash above my perplexity. You are the oil on my water that calms me.
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
Rich Forbes