Other times, we struggle with not knowing why or how things happen. We want control of our lives, and sometimes we just want to know what's going to happen next. Other times we want to know why we are faced with certain events and why things happen to us.
Sometimes I have it, and perhaps you do too, that we want to know more about God and His deeds. We want to fully understand God's character. We want to know how everything works. 'Where is heaven?' is a question we were faced with in the sermon yesterday afternoon. Yes, it's up (Christ ascended up into heaven) there somewhere, but in Australia, pointing up to the sky is actually pointing down. How does that work? Our human nature can't comprehend such a concept, although somewhere inside us is a lingering to know more. We want to know more about God and why He chose to orchestrate certain events in the past, why He allows certain things to happen in the present, and what He has in store for us in the future.
That's the trap man fell into when Adam and Eve were tempted in Paradise. They wanted to know more; they wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen 3:5). And it follows then that we must understand today also, that we can not always comprehend all of God's ways (and we shouldn't try). For,
If we could understand all things about God, He wouldn't be so great.
This sentence from the sermon struck me. Hard. Not only is there no way we can understand everything, trying to know more and creating theories about what God hasn't revealed for human minds is undermining God's character and His greatness. God created man to praise and glorify Him- and so it must be our aim to praise His greatness, and not try and match it. Everything about God is so awesome and praiseworthy- who is man to belittle Him? If we understood God and His deeds, we wouldn't have a great God, we'd merely have a similar being and little purpose in life.
God is far beyond us. We don't understand everything, but we don't need to. Because of God's greatness, we are assured that He is in control. We can be assured that we are safe in His hands. He knows everything, and that means that He knows what is best for us. If we could plan our lives, I'm sure we'd make a terrible mess of it. But God knows best. He has His whole plan for this world worked out. And He had it worked out even before He created the world. His plan of salvation, to save man after the temptation of wanting to know more, is the only knowledge we need.
Our God is an awesome God. So instead of wanting to know everything, be safe in the knowledge that His greatness is far beyond us, and dwell in the comfort of His all-knowing arms. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7).
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