Life feels like trigonometry sometimes, doesn’t it? It just gets so complicated, and nothing seems to add up. But if you will start with the foundational truth that God is sovereign and that He providentially arranges things to accomplish His goal, then you have laid a foundation through which to view, understand and accept the complexities of life that come your way.
What you and I may look at as random events are actually orchestrated events in the purposes and plans of God. Let me put it another way, this mysterious thing called providence means that God is sitting behind the steering wheel of history. Sometimes, He’s on the main highway during a bright and sunny day. Other times, He is driving down the back alleys in a fearful and dark environment. Sometimes, it looks like He’s even going the wrong way on a one-way street, but all the time, He is steering the steering wheel of history to arrive at His intended destination. Because God is sovereign, He is never caught by surprise, and He never says, “Oops, I missed that!” What shocks you was long ago already known by Him. He is not shocked at all. Rather, He knew it would happen and has arranged situations and events to bring about His greater good.
In God’s providential connecting of things in your life, He either has caused all things or allowed them to happen. That is not to confuse God with endorsing sin. God hates sin and cannot sin Himself. But even though He does not endorse sin, He will use the sin that comes from a fallen humanity, often prompted by Satan and his minions, to accomplish His purposes.
For example, Scripture tells us that God “made” Pharaoh’s heart hard so that Pharaoh would chase the Jews out of Israel. He took the evil that was present in Pharaoh’s heart and used it as a catalyst for teaching the Israelites an essential lesson (one of many) on how to trust Him as they were led by Him to eventually go into the Promised Land. God cooperated with what existed within Pharaoh in order to fulfill His purpose of delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt.
He’s so powerful and so good that He can literally turn what other people meant to harm you or hurt you and use it to take you to the greater place of freedom and life He intends for you.
God will never let your pain go to waste. It will only go to waste when you choose to embrace unforgiveness, bitterness and doubt rather than forgiveness, love and trust.
But it is easy to be tempted to not forgive when things seem so confusing. I understand. God doesn’t always make sense. In fact, He rarely makes sense to our finite minds. In Romans 11:33, it says, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
You can’t go to the search bar on your computer or tablet and type in God’s ways and get a map with the answer. Neither can you Google or Bing “God’s providence” and pull up all of the intricate details of how He does what He does and what He is planning to do both in and through you.
His ways are beyond finding out. So don’t be surprised when God doesn’t make sense. Because He’s not supposed to. His thoughts and His paths are higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9). He is the great “unfigureoutable” God, all the while tweaking, twisting, moving, arranging and allowing the things that happen to you and in you to take you to where He wants you to ultimately go.
Be blessed,
Bro. J