Things I Don’t Understand About God’s Ways.

Before we get to today’s article, I just want to mention that am writing from the perspective of a man that has experienced many of the challenges of which I write…. and those spiritual battles continue daily. The articles are implications of what it means to obey the commandment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. They require some reflection and are particularly for Christians who, as Peter would say, are diligently seeking to confirm their calling and are making every effort to supplement their faith. Said more succinctly, serious Christians. If you know other believers who desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, please forward an article to them and tell them to sign up for future articles. Thanks so much!

Things I Don’t Understand About God’s Ways.

I have been a Christian now for about 30 years and after all of this time, I still don’t understand God’s ways. I mean, I think I understand the most important things about God. But, on some days, I feel a bit like Nicodemus, that great ruler of the Jews, who famously responded to Jesus’ teaching on the need to be born again with, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Take Romans 8:29 for example:  

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

I understand what the words are saying, but I don’t fully understand how God is going to make me more like Christ. You can call me Mikeodemus.

Or, here is another one from 1 Corinthians 12:27: Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. I’m trying to get my mind past the obvious analogy that Paul is using, but just can’t fully understand how that works out on a daily basis.

But then there is the big one from Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17. This is the most magnificent prayer in the entire Bible and Jesus’ perfect requests will certainly be answered in the affirmative by the Father. I have had trouble fully understanding the following parts of the prayer:

11.b: Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

21: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

22-23: The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

25b-26: I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Note that there is a redundancy in the prayer in regard to the idea of Christ being one with the Father, Christians being one with Him and the Father, and Christians being one with another. This has been mind boggling to me.

However,  due to the recent event of my brother’s heart attack and subsequent need for a heart transplant, I have come to understand these truths in deeper ways. Let me explain. As have written earlier, we have seen the outward manifestations of how Jesus works through the church to provide all sorts of physical needs to John and his wife, Joanne. The church is the beautiful community that rises to the occasion to do what is necessary to serve and help. But now, I am seeing the manifestation of what God is doing in the hearts and minds of His children and these things are at the root of the actions people take and are the greatest works of God.

These works of the Spirit, which are most evident through suffering, look like this:

For my brother John and His wife, they have gone to a new high of love and appreciation for each other and hearts full of thankfulness for every single day of life that the Lord gives. This will only increase as the journey through a heart transplant and recovery continues if God graciously allows it to happen.

John has expressed his gloriously new perspective of loving people because so many people have drawn in to love him and care for him through this ordeal- even those who represent ideas or worldviews that are anti-Christian. The Lord has brought to mind the many times that Jesus walked this earth and lovingly gave time and energy to all.  He has become a man who will exit from the hospital (Lord willing) more patient and desiring to give more time to anyone.

There is a new depth of understanding how the body of Christ works together and encourages one another. Certainly, our family and extended family have never been so close together due to our need to mutually encourage and build up one another.

We have all gone deeper in our understanding and dependance on God through prayer. We have 37 people on a text chain that are praying as the Lord takes John (and us) through many emotional ups and downs. These people are praying as one.

We understand more about the absolute sovereignty of God in the world. In addition to sending Christian nurses and physical therapists to take care of John, He has also sent the surgeon who pointed to the sky and said to John, “I’m not the one in charge of your surgery, He is.” Again, both the workers and John have been mutually encouraging one another and giving glory to God.

In His sovereignty God sent us two ladies who are working on the financial part of this challenge. After hearing the story, they made known that they too were Christians, began to weep and asked to pray with us.

His neighbor from his previous home showed up at the hospital. About a year ago he had a heart attack and came to tell John all that he should expect, how he should care for himself during recovery, and most all, how John should think about God. His act of love for John was evident and it helped me understand more how God works in the people around you when you really haven’t a clue about him doing it.

I have also seen more of how God trains and sanctifies young minds. Because John is the head of a Christian school, the students and staff have been praying daily for John. I think about the multitude of questions and comments that the kids have had and how the teachers and staff members are walking these children through a way to think Biblically about this ongoing drama.

And finally, the men who were so eager to put up the money that we needed to get on the heart transplant list. The fact that they so quickly responded without hesitation makes clear to me that God had prepared them for that moment as He was growing their faith and their understanding of what it means to be kingdom minded with their money.

All of these works of God have shown me that we really are one in Christ and one with one another. I have seen enough with my own eyes to more fully understand that Christians truly are members of one body and how God brings good out of the most difficult life situations. I have seen the love of God through the words and actions of His people, and I see Him conforming them to the image of His dear Son. I don’t fully understand it but know that I never will. His ways are too high and beyond finding out.

And finally, I understand why no man can see God and live. I know because I have been able to get a glimpse of what He is like through the work that He is doing in His people- and it is emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting. To see His work in people is to see His glory through a veil and if we were to see more, we would be destroyed. Thankfully, he has also made a provision for that in heaven where we will get new bodies- bodies that will be able to praise Him as He reveals more of Himself in all of His holy glory. Amen.  

Thanks for checking in. See you next time.

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Last modified: November 3, 2023