Secret Things

Have you ever wondered why some things are the way they are - why God didn’t answer your heartfelt prayer, why God didn’t heal a precious friend, why God allowed a certain thing to happen, seemingly without intervening? I have. And I suspect it will be that way for as long as I’m alive this side of heaven. From my point of view, some of God’s ways are beyond understanding, and He even says in Isaiah that His ways are higher than ours (Isaish 55:9).

I don’t know about you, but I’m able to process things better – especially troublesome things – when I’m able to understand why it’s happening. I’m also able to handle change easier when I have a reasonable understanding of what to expect after change happens. I like to ‘have my ducks in a row’. It’s comfortable and reassuring, and definitely less stress-inducing when I KNOW.

But then again, would I love God more, or even less, if I understood His ways better? Would I obey Him better if I knew the answers to all my questions? No! I love God and serve Him because He first loved me, because I’m in relationship with a kind, compassionate and forgiving Father, and because I’ve learned to trust His character, even when I can’t understand His ways. I’ve personally experienced His faithfulness and His goodness to me, and I’ve had the privilege of hind-sight, at times, where I came to understand why He didn’t answer some of my prayers the way I wanted Him to!

I’m reminded of Job 13:15 – ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’. Job trusted God to the extent that he would submit to the worst possible outcome, if that was what God deemed best for him. Nothing would shake His trust in God!

God doesn’t owe us anything more. He’s already given His most precious gift, His Son, so we could be reconciled to Him. Furthermore, loving Him comes with so many benefits (See Psalm 103:1-5). Our key scripture says that the secret things – the things we don’t know and understand – belong to the Lord, and we’re not accountable for them. We are, however, accountable for the things God’s already revealed to us.

I’m very much aware of the fact that all these unanswered questions and heart-breaking life situations can be unbearable, and it may cause me to feel overwhelmed and insecure at times. However, God’s ways are far higher than my ways, and His perspective is far clearer than mine could ever be.

He is God, and I am not. I know His heart, and I can choose to rest in who I’ve come to know Him to be. He’s a God who cares for me affectionately, and watchfully (1 Peter 5:7 – Amplified). He’s the Good Shepherd who tends and feeds me (John 10). He’s a God who longs to be gracious to me, and show His loving-kindness and tender mercy towards me (Isaiah 30:18). Selah! [Pause and calmly think of that].