When We Do Not Understand

When the frosts are in the valley,
And the mountain tops are gray,
And the choicest buds are blighted,
And the blossoms die away,
A loving Father whispers,
“This cometh from My hand,
Blessed are ye if ye trust,
Where ye cannot understand!”

If, after years of toiling,
Your wealth should fly away,
And leave your hands all empty,
And your locks are turning gray,
Remember then your Father,
Owns all the sea and land,
Blessed are ye if ye trust,
Where ye cannot understand!
(Author Unknown)

One of the most puzzling questions mankind has ever raised is, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This question continues to plague the hearts of men and women worldwide. To the atheist, this question is a “proof” of the impossibility of God’s existence. To the saint, it is a test. Even Job was perplexed by the prosperity of the wicked and the misfortune of the righteous. He said, “It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. If the scourge slay suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covereth the faces of the judges thereof: If it be not He, who then is it?” (9:22-24, ASV). When one witnesses these things one may ask, “Why God? I don’t understand.”

Moved by that same question, Job desired a debate with God that he might prove to God that he “ought not” to be persecuted in such a way (cf. 23:3-5). Anytime someone looks at the world and says “Things ought not to be so” the implication is that God, who rules the world, is not running it the way it “ought” to be run. Making such a claim places one in the position of God’s Counselor. God’s response to Job, beginning in chapter 38, was a series of rapid fire questions about the great wonders and mysteries of the universe. The result was just as Job knew it would be, he could not answer God “one of a thousand” (cf. 9:3). God was proved to be infinitely wiser than Job and therefore it is God, not Job, who is qualified to decide how the universe “ought” to be run. Job gave a fitting reply, “Then Job answered Jehovah, and said, I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be restrained. Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not…Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (42:1-6 ASV).

The lesson that Job learned, and one that we also must learn, is that though we may not understand the ways of God, He is good and He is wise, and He is still worthy of our trust. When the unexpected happens, He is our Rock. When the tide comes crashing in, He is our fortress. When sorrow weighs heavily on our souls, He is our hiding place. When the world does not make sense, He is the one we trust. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36 ASV).