Saturday, June 26, 2011
Romans 11:33-35 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
LORD, GIVE ME A CHILDLIKE FAITH
When we're tempted to doubt truths of Scripture we have come to believe, there's a Bible story we do well to remember, of the patriarch Job. To test Job's faith God allowed Satan to rob him of his possessions, his family, and even his health. For a time Job "weathered the storm" and continued to anchor his trust in the One whom he had come to know as the God of faithful love. Eventually, though, Job's confidence started to wilt and he began to doubt God's goodness. He couldn't figure out why a caring God would allow trouble to enter the life of a believer. Job's problem was that he was trying to fit the infinite God into the mold of human reason and explain God's ways according to the way puny humans think. Here's what God told Job in response: "Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? ... Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt' ... Tell Me, if you know all this ... Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?" (Job 38:2-11; 40:2).
With God's help, Job was led to realize the foolhardiness of questioning the ways of the Mighty One. He came to accept in childlike faith things too wonderful to understand and he repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:1-6). May this be our attitude regarding the things God has revealed to us in His Word. Let us follow Martin Luther's sage advice and "poke out the eyes of our reason" when dealing with Scripture's mysteries, bowing before our Lord in a spirit of reverence, and singing:
Holy, Father, holy Son, Holy Spirit, three we name Thee;
Though in essence only one, Undivided God we claim Thee
And, adoring, bend the knee While we own the mystery.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 250:4)
