Waiting on God's answer

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)

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.

There is much we do not understand; however God the creator knows and understands the works He has put in place.

In my early years as a pastor I would have admitted there was much about God I didn't know; in practice, though, I always felt I needed to have an answer when a grieving mother asked why God allowed a three-year-old to die, or an anguished student wanted to grasp the relationship between divine sovereignty and human freewill, or a teenager asked for an explanation of the Trinity. Too often this meant I assumed the role of God's defense attorney, trying my best to bolster God's public approval rating.

Now I'm more likely to say, "I don't know." And I feel as though I've changed from a sway-back workhorse into a winged Pegasus; not having to carry the crushing weight of theological omniscience has been like the freedom of flight.  [The Trivialization of God. Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 12.]

As I have grown older, I have learned there is much I don’t know about God. There is much I do not understand in this world around me. There is much that I cannot fathom or comprehend. There are places in The Bible where I read a passage thinking I understand and then I come to another passage just to realize I don’t understand.

I have learned too that we must be careful in judgments. There are many places in The Bible that say we are not to consult with magicians, psychics, mediums or the dead. Yet there is a passage in The Bible that brings a question:  In Luke 9:29-31 it says of Jesus, “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Moses was dead; and yet Jesus was communicating with him and Elijah about the most important event in human history about to take place – Salvation for man.

I too am reminded there are many who pray to Mother Mary and to The Saints making requests and asking for guidance. Are they too not dead and in heaven?

So let us be careful in our conclusions. I agree with the pastor above, it may be just appropriate to say, “I DON’T KNOW” and wait for God to provide an answer.