Monday, August 13, 2018

Beyond Our Understanding

 

[Photo of a Scripture verse]


“As you do not know the path of the
wind, or how the body is formed in
a mother’s womb, so you cannot
understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.”
—Ecclesiastes 11:5

“I don’t at all understand how a microwave oven works, but I sure do like the speed and convenience it brings to certain cooking tasks in the kitchen.”

I overheard the remarks of this young woman while I was standing in line at a church supper. Always the literalist—because of my Concrete-Sequential Mind Style™—I proceeded to explain electromagnetic energy, making reference to the similarity microwaves have to radar signals and, thus, the original name of the Amana microwave oven: “Radarange.”

After the woman had very patiently listened to my explanation, she turned back to her friend in line and said, “I don’t at all understand how a microwave oven works, but I sure do like the speed and convenience it brings to certain cooking tasks in the kitchen.”

I was quite jarred at first. But then, I remembered all of the things that I have not understood over the years and realized that we all have some things we do not understand.

Certainly, King Solomon acknowledges this very fact when he wrote these words, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 11:5:

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

God is beyond our comprehension. Or, more properly stated, except for what God has chosen to reveal about Himself to us through the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God’s written Word, the Bible, we cannot possibly understand Him. And, that is exactly as it should be. After all, He is God and we… well, we are not!

We can take great comfort at the beginning of this new day that, even though God has revealed exactly as much of Himself as we need to know, He remains a wonderful mystery to us. Someday, when we reach heaven, we will see God for who He really is. We will be astounded. No wonder we will fall on our knees and worship Him.

 

Copyright © 2018 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.