Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." And Isaiah 55.9 reminds us that "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The longer I live, the more mysterious and inexplicable God's ways seem to me. When I was a young man, I had life all figured out; it made perfect (or nearly perfect) sense to me, perhaps due to a raging naiveté or ignorance, or perhaps youthful arrogance. In the mid Seventies while in seminary, I took a summer course in apologetics from a professor well-known in Christian circles. For those unfamiliar with the term, apologetics has nothing to do with apologizing for anything; it is the study of the defense of the Christian faith. This professor had actually developed a logical progression of thought proving that this sad world we live in is the best of all possible worlds. Even as I took the course, I thought to myself, "Try telling that to a young mother who has just lost her baby to cancer." Although this professor is famous and has written a number of highly acclaimed books, I've never bought any of them. Anyone who can convince himself of his premise doesn't hold a great deal of credibility with me.
However, that begs the question. What was on God's mind when he allowed the world to go so wrong? I can wrap my mind around the possibility that sin may be necessary for us to have freewill. If the possibility of sin were eliminated, so also would be the possibility of love. But is it necessary to have so much evil? I have no answer to these kinds of questions, but I do take some odd comfort in the knowledge that the atheist or agnostic doesn't have anything better to offer. Though I don't understand God's ways, I'm not expected to. As the verses quoted indicate, my inability to fathom the mysteries of God is nothing new. Smarter people than I have been equally stumped. The Good News is that some things are revealed, and are manifest so we might be able to live productive lives that reach down to future generations.
There is much in life I do not understand. In just the past three days, I've listened to enough stories of pain and tragedy to last me the rest of the year, and there isn't a single one of these stories I can fix. I know the promise that God works all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28), but that good often comes through many tears, much seemingly needless pain and suffering.
It is our eye to the future that tips the balance. If all we do is look around us, there is plenty of reason for despair. Every generation aims to solve the world's problems, but those problems persist. We must look beyond this world, and as Christians, we do. Our hope and confidence is in the future. St. Paul put it this way: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9). It is that love and that hope of things prepared but not revealed that enables us to deal with all the troubles of today. Though we don't understand the ways, we know the heart of God because that heart has been revealed to us (there's that thought again) in God's gift of his Son for our salvation. Because the future is guaranteed us, we can work in the present even when we don't see the results we hoped for. God's rule is being established in the feeble, often messed-up lives of his people, and the day will come when as Jesus taught us to pray, his will is "done on earth as it is in heaven." And for that, I give thanks.
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