Strangely enough, the more God reveals Himself to me from His word, the more confounded I am, by His unsearchable, mystifying, undeniably perplexing ways.
Surely with our very imperfect and limited understanding of how God rules His world, we are sometimes left dumbfounded by the circumstances we and our friends find ourselves in. But, through baffling moments of darkness, come the voice of our good Father to trust in Him.
When God reassured Abram of His good intentions for Him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward”. ..”Look up at the heavens and count the stars- if indeed you can count them, so shall your offspring be”.[1]
Yet, with that blessing, came many long years of waiting. Unfortunately, in that time of lingering hope, Abraham slipped up by taking matters into his own hands, thinking that he would give God a head start. Encouraged by Sarah, he slept with Hagar while waiting for the promise of an heir to be fulfilled. Often, we also fail in similar fashion, thinking that we know better than the God of the universe who fashioned us with His own hands.
But God in His faithfulness, made good His promise, and after twenty five long years of waiting, God manifested His glory powerfully by defying medical science, in the opening up of Sarah’s dead and shrunken womb.
Amazingly enough, it was also twenty five years between the unfolding of God’s dream to Joseph, to the fulfillment of his brothers bowing to him, as ruler of all Egypt, after Pharaoh.
Undeniably, his time of darkness and suffering in the pit, enslavement and imprisonment was hellish, and I am sure that many a time, he thought that God had forgotten him.
But God in His wisdom and sovereignty allowed the sins of Joseph’s brothers, to accomplish His good will. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” [2]
I recently read Elizabeth Elliot’s reflections on trusting God. She recalls the death of her husband and that of four other young men.
“The five men had been missionaries, not cannibals. They had gone into Auca territory to take the gospel there, not to eat Indians. They loved God. They trusted him. They prayed for protection, guidance and success, and they had put their faith in him as shield and defender. As we, their wives prayed with them over every step of the preparations for this venture, we thought surely God would protect, guide and give success. But it was the Indians who had the success. They won. What then is faith? What in heaven’s name do we mean when we say, “In God we trust?”[3]
Even God’s son did not escape pain and suffering. We know that God’s purposes for us, is to be conformed and transformed to the likeness of His son. So, what does that mean? I think it means that suffering is a part of God’s plan for our lives.
“A man visited the studio of a sculptor, and in the middle of the room sat a huge slab of marble. “What are you going to sculpt out of that marble?” the man asked. “A horse”, answered the sculptor. “How will you do that” the visitor asked. “I will take a hammer and a chisel and knock off everything that doesn’t look like a horse”….. God’s purpose with us is to knock off us everything that doesn’t look like Jesus. [4]
“Letting go of what the world calls safety and surrendering to the Lord is our insurance of fulfillment. Christ knew his Father and offered himself unreservedly into His hands. If we let ourselves be lost for his sake, trusting the same God as Lord of all, we shall find safety where Christ found his, in the bosom of the Father”[5]
Perhaps, upon pondering the ways of God, I am no longer surprised at the pain and suffering we all go through whilst on earth, awaiting our blessed hope of glory. God has His perfect timing for His purposes to be fulfilled in our lives, in His own mysterious ways.
