SERVING A GOD I DON’T UNDERSTAND
Scripture:
“For my thoughts (thinking) are not your thoughts (thinking), neither are your ways (paths, directions) my ways (paths, directions), saith the LORD.”
Isaiah 55:8, KJV
After reading Clive Staples Lewis’ book ‘A Grief Observed’, it left me with no doubt that the frustrations and apprehensions that are expressed by today’s Christians were also expressed by our forebears when they came to the crossroads of their lives where their faiths were challenged. In the case of C. S. Lewis, it was the lose of his dear wife, Joy, that almost shattered this man considered to be an intellectual giant and Christian influential writer of his day. This interregnum state of our lives, where we sometimes oscillates between faith and disbelief in God is very real. And therefore as each one of us journey on in this life, we encounter situations that sometimes seem that life is full of vacuity as we apply our minds to an acuity of sordid memories. This article is therefore aimed at stating the facts as it is for all human beings to know and to do as we continue to serve a God we don’t understand.
To borrow a quote from the venerable C. S. Lewis that says that “Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.” This quote at least summarizes the frustrations of most Christians when we’re hit with unfortunate circumstances that require that we fall back on the truth in God’s word to console ourselves. Indeed, when most of us are using these same truths to console another person, it becomes very easy to do that. However, when we’re faced with the realities of life ourselves, these same truths that we used just a moment ago for the other person seem to lose its potency and thereby making us try to use our minds to understand why such things have come upon us. And to the degree that we’re not able to understand why such things have come upon us, we try to conclude that there’s no God or that if He even exists, then He doesn’t care about us as He portrays to be. But the question is, must we understand everything that come upon us to authenticate who God is before we continue to serve Him?
Once upon a time Billy Graham of blessed memory was also caught up in this same situation when he stood together with President Bill Clinton before the victims of Oklahoma City in 1995 when 168 people were killed and 680 wounded after a terrorist bombed a building in that city causing an estimated damage cost of $652 million. So as Billy stood there to give his message to these victims to ameliorate their pain he said, “I wish I could tell you that I understand completely why things like this happen. But I don’t. Even after all these years, I don’t. I don’t know why this happened. I don’t have an explanation for it. But the God we love is a God of love and mercy amidst all the suffering we are asked to endure. We are not supposed to understand everything but instead to lean on God. Even after all these years, after I have searched the Scriptures and prayed for wisdom, I do not understand everything. I cannot explain this, but that makes the case for our faith even stronger.”
This admonition from this giant of our faith contains exactly what we must do to serve this God we don’t understand in addition to relying on the scripture above. For in this scripture, He makes it clear that no human being can ever understand His modus operandi. Indeed, the day we can understand Him is the day He ceases to be God. This makes Him sovereign. So stop wasting your time to try to figure out why some misfortune has befallen you. If you don’t go through this life with a mindset that we have been sent here to fulfill different assignments, you’ll always blame God and think that He doesn’t care about you. The real fact is that, He does really care about you. But do you care about Him? If you do, then stop trying to pigeonhole God into your thinking and allow Him to be who He is as you continue to serve Him without understanding Him. Take C. S. Lewis’ advise after he had realized that “We cannot understand. The best is what we understand least.” so that you can have the best of and from God as you tune your mind to understand Him the least and rather have faith in Him the more. Just look at the ordeal the world has gone through since 2020 when COVID-19 hit the world and the needless war Russia is in with Ukraine. They don’t make any sense at all to the human mind considering the fact that there have been innocent people, who have become victims of these events. Can God stop what is going on? Yes. Why is He looking on for people to suffer? I don’t know. But it doesn’t stop the fact that He’s God. So if you don’t understand Him in your situation, it’s not the time to quit serving Him. Remember that all these things must happen but “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”, saith the Lord (Rev. 3:21). Shalom!