UNDERSTANDING GOD’S WAYS

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”– Job 11:7 (NIV)

Today, let’s situate UNDERSTANDING GOD’S WAYS in Biblical context: “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above – what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 NIV). Ironically, while God wants us to understand His Ways, the Bible says severally that God’s Ways surpass human understanding: “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rom.11:33b). “His understanding is unsearchable” (Isa.40:28). He “does great things, and unsearchable things, marvellous things without number” (Job 5:9).

Ecclesiastes 11:5 says: “As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything.” By self-effort and striving we cannot comprehend God’s Ways to any appreciable degree, but He has revealed Himself and His Ways through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is “THE WAY, the Truth, and the Life” (Jh.14:6). God does not horde the secrets of His Ways. He loves us and wants us to be filled with the knowledge of His glorious Ways that we might walk therein: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa.11:9; Hab.2:14).

God says in Isaiah 55: 8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” As the heavens transcend the earth, so God’s Thoughts and Ways transcend our earthly thoughts and ways. But, God sends His Word to elevate our thoughts and ways to align with His Higher Thoughts and Ways: “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa.55: 10-11).

When Moses was given carte blanche from God to ask whatever He wanted, he replied: "If I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your Way" (Ex. 33:13). All he wanted was to comprehend God's Ways. He could have asked for more power; for vengeance upon his enemies; for any number of things! He wanted one thing: to understand God's Ways. If God gave me carte blanche, what would I have asked for? Am I passionate in pursuing and understanding His Ways?

Sometimes, as God directs our steps, it may seem He is leading to the middle of nowhere. That’s no time to cast away our confidence (Heb.10:35). Whether we can figure out what God is doing or not, walking with Him demands Faith, Obedience, and Patience. We serve the Lord we can extol, not a God we can explain! The God of infinite majesty can’t be measured. The God who releases miracles can’t be contained. The God whose love is eternal can’t be explained! God sees more than we can see. He knows more than we know. He works in ways beyond our comprehension. If we agree to follow Him only when we understand what He’s doing, we’ll always stop short of experiencing His inexplicable wonders.

Understanding God in His fullness is impracticable for fallen humanity on this side of eternity: “Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; nor can the number of His years be discovered” (Job 36:26). Yet, God ushers us into the wonders of His Ways as we seek the understanding of His Son. To understand Jesus – the Living Word – is to understand God’s Ways.