In my Christian life, I have tried so hard to understand God. I have read the bible, read other books by trusted authors, prayed, and even tried to talk to other people who have had a great relationship with God. But so far, I do not have the understanding I wish I knew.
For the Christian, it should be their desire to understand God in the person he truly is, above ALL else. God wants to be known and understood. So why is it so hard? And why is it that most Christians don’t have that desire?
I have heard my whole life that if I wanted to learn who God was and to understand him, and his will, then all I have to do is, go to church, read the bible, and pray. Okay, I have done that. So why do I still not understand the true self of God? If you ask some who think they know everything, but know nothing in comparison, they would say that it is because there’s sin in your life. I have been told that, and it’s CRAP! It isn’t always that. If you can’t understand God, then sin is in your life. BUT, here is the thing. If that was the case, then NONE of us would understand God. We ALL have some kind of sin in our lives, be it Pride, anger we refuse to let go, deceit, or a plethora of many things. So maybe it’s something else that prohibits us from understanding God, though sin does block that connection to him, but it isn’t the case all the time.
Back in the days when Job was being tormented by Satan’s attacks, he didn’t understand God. He had a very upright relationship with God but yet still was being picked apart, with God’s okay. So Satan aimed at Job in order to prove that it was only because God blessed Job so richly that he was close to him. But if God removed the blessings, he would curse God to his face. Job 1:6-12.
As job was going through all of this, he didn’t understand why. He didn’t understand God. He didn’t understand what was going on. Now those around him thought they knew why. Just like people in my life, and maybe in yours, were saying that there was unrepentant sin and that is why I was going through all of these trials. They were saying the same thing to Job. He had sin in his life, and all he had to was confess his sin, whatever that was, and everything would be great. Even his own wife said, to churse God and die. He didn’t know much. There were two things he knew for sure though.
- job knew there wasn’t any. He has a very good relationship with God. So there wasn’t any confessed sin in his life.
- The other thing he knew about things was that he knew that if God gave blessings and was good in times of greatness, he then was still good when things were not so great, and even hell. He said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord:, Job 1:21. That was the only thing he understood at this time.
It wasn’t until later in Chapter 3 of Job, he starts complaining against God. He regretted the day he was born and asked God to curse him and forget the day he was born, and even asked why he did not die at birth. He had been covered in boils from head to toe. He was very distressed. He cracked, but wouldn’t you? He did not understand God. He lost his trust in God. At first he is saying God does anything he wants and was still good, but then says later, why did you even let me be born? He lost his faith and he caved in. He did not understand and caved. We ALL go through that at times and if you say you don’t, then you are a LIAR! Everyone of us will have times where we will have questions about our faith. We will wonder, what the heck God is doing, why he is doing it.
Back when the late great Billy Graham was young and into his ministry, he had questions. He had doubts about his faith, and about his word. But when he went to God, he said he came out the other side, still now understanding everything, but said that he would take it by faith. He didn’t need to understand everything about God or the bible. He trusted God to be right, and so his word was right. He lived that way the rest of his life. We should too.
God says never says that he will be understood. He does say that he will be there, and wants to be trusted and obeyed, whether we understand or not. God will not always or even at all be understood in everything he does in our lives. But even when we don’t understand, we should still trust him because of what he has done all though our lives. He understands that we don’t understand him. But he still wants us to trust and be obedient to him. You may not be able to understand him, but you can still trust him, because he is trustworthy. Why don’t I understand God, I just don’t. I may live my whole life not understanding him, but I try to trust him, even in my misunderstanding.
The reason we fall away and live our lives for ourselves is because we either think we know everything, which we don’t, or we think we need to understand everything about him, when we never will. God is so immense, and his ways are do different than our thinking can handle, that we won’t understand him.
| Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB)Talks about why we will never completely understand God. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. So why do we think we have to understand him? Well, maybe it is because it is because we think we have to, because that is what the church tells us in order to be good Christians. Or, maybe it is because of our massive ego. If we don’t understand God on our terms, then we make something up, because we wish to be seen as smart and have prestige with other Christians or the world. We want that notoriety and that pat on the back. Plus, if we think we can figure God out then we are somehow more spiritual than we really are. So if we can’t understand God, then we make it up. We can also manipulate others. We have Christians and non Christians everyday that make things up about God. I have gone to church with people who have done it. |
Understand God is not like figuring out an algebra equation. He is actually more complex that. He wants to be known, but only as much as he will allow. We are NOT able to handle as much knowledge and understanding of God like we wish. Taking baby steps and taking a little at a time will increase our dependence on him, and our understanding of him better than if we try to. It will also cause us to trust him, if we let it, because we are focused on him and NOT ourselves. But we have to be patient, let God take us as far as he chooses, and at what speed. I can understand your frustration. I have had times in my life where I have tried to go further in my understanding of God faster than he was allowing me and it drove me nuts. He was pulling back on the leash telling me to slow down and let him take me as fast and where he was going to and not take on too much. That is what happens to us. We drive ourselves nuts when we try to go faster than he allows, then we get frustrated and quit and stop trying. He cannot be understood like we think or how we think. Remember Isaiah 55:8-9 above. His ways are so much higher than our. His understanding is more than we can handle. You can read the books on the subject and go to church 24/7 and try to learn more than he wants us to at a certain time. But all you will do is stall yourself if you try to go faster than he wants.
Do you understand God? NO? Okay, but do you trust him? Have there been things in your life that you were going through, like Job did, but get frustrated, and therefore stop trusting him, because things didn’t go on your terms? If you don’t understand him, that is okay. But if you truly are a Christian, and you don’t trust him because you don’t understand him like you wish you could, where is your real focus? What is your relationship with him like? It is okay to not understand God, but trust that he will do what he needs in you and at what speed so you can. God never says,”I will be understood.” But he does say, “I can and I should be trusted. I should be trusted to do in you WHAT I wish to do, WHEN I wish, and HOW I wish”
Do you understand him as you wish? NO? Okay, that isn’t a bad thing. But do you trust him? Never stap trusting him, even when you don’t understand him. You see, I may not understand why God allows this or that, but I trust him to do what is right with my life, and with those around me. Yes, sometimes I fail to trust him, WE ALL DO, but over all, I know that he will do what is right in my life and with my life, because he has never failed me, and he never will.
As I tell people, and myself. Pray, Trust, and Obey. Let God take care of what we can’t.
Take Care, and God Bless You
FROM THE HEART 