Robert Griffith | 26 January 2023
Robert Griffith
26 January 2023
Sometimes I don’t comprehend God!
In all honesty, it happens the majority of the time.
Why won’t He make Himself known to me more clearly? Why does He frequently leave me in the dark about what He is doing or thinking? You know, I have high hopes for God and what He can and ought to achieve and when I observe Him acting differently from how I believe my God should act, I can become frustrated and disheartened.
We all have known loss and tragedy and grief. The death of a baby. The horror of cancer taking a wife or husband. The senseless destruction of an avoidable car accident which crippled someone we love for life. The rebellion of our child as they run away from God – we cry out to God every day for Him to save them and reveal Himself to them and we see no change.
Why would God act that way? Why does He not feel obligated to live up to our demands? Because He is God! You’d think He’d be out and about demonstrating who He is and what He can do because He wants everyone to come to Him. Why then does he not do that?
One day, as I was reading my Bible, I came across a chapter that spoke to the conflict I was experiencing with God. Jesus was emphasising to His followers that He was the Bread of Life as He spoke to them.
John 6:53-54 “Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
These words would confound anyone. According to the passage, several of his followers said, “This is difficult to fathom; how could anyone accept it?” Jesus asked His twelve disciples whether they were going to forsake Him as well after many of his followers abandoned Him that day. Peter responded:
John 6:68–69 “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
“WE BELIEVE and we KNOW you are the Holy One of God,” Peter declares.
Peter is essentially saying that we will TRUST You even though we don’t comprehend You, even though you don’t fit our idea of what a Messiah should be, even if we can’t see the Way.
I also really like what he says just before that. “Lord, whither should we go?”
In moments of despair I have echoed Peter’s comments, “Where would we go? Without Him, how could we possibly travel this path?”
I’ve concluded that we cannot force God to demonstrate who He is. He will reveal His will and His way in His time. Our job is to trust Him.
So, when I am discouraged because my God is not living up to my expectations, I CHOOSE to believe and to have faith in the goodness of His plan.
I then return my gaze to the Cross.
Since He willingly gave His life for me, how can I doubt His goodness?
