“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom…”
1 Corinthians 1:25a
Are there things in your life that seem like foolishness? Foolishness when seen through your eyes?
Think about how Noah must have felt, how his family must have felt and the thoughts running through their heads when they were told to build that huge boat.
Think about how Sarah and Abraham felt when they were told they would have a child in their old age. How impossible, and foolish, and laughable!
Think about the Israelites as they left Egypt and started off into the wilderness. The craziness of so many people, including elderly, women, children, babies, all going out into the desert with little food and water. Imagine what started going through their heads as they grew hungry and thirsty.
What about the Israelites years later when they went in to take the promised land? They entered a land where they were far outnumbered. Think about how foolish they must have felt walking in circles around Jericho.
In all these things God had a bigger plan, and a better viewpoint than the people right in the situation.
So again, are there things that are in your life that seem like foolishness to you? Things that seem to make no sense that you feel God has asked you to do?
It is very frustrating for me to not see the whole picture when I feel like God is telling me to do something. I am one of those people who really wants to know everything. I don’t like being left in the dark. There are only a few things where I suspend my “need to know.” That is around Christmas and my birthday. I hate spoiling surprises around then. I suspend my natural curiosity. I don’t look into places that could be used as hiding places, the whole works.
But otherwise, I really want to know, to understand the whole picture of how things are going work out.
So when God tells me to continue tithing, even when not tithing would pay a bill off or two… or when He tells me to stop using the credit card, and only use checks and the check card or cash… I want to understand. I want to know how things are going to work, when we have little left in our account before the next check comes in. I want to know that we are going to be taken care of.
I guess I am a lot like the Israelites in the desert. God proved Himself over and over. He showed them so many times that He was their provider. He gave them water. He gave them food. He was ready to destroy them so many times because they just didn’t get it, and they wouldn’t trust Him. They kept trying to do things on their own to provide for themselves, and complained to God when things weren’t the way they thought they should be.
It scares me a bit. If I am a lot like the Israelites, if I end up trying to do things on my own, and complain when they aren’t what I think they should be… I wonder how many times God must look at me and shake His head and wish that I would just trust Him.
I know He doesn’t really shake His head in disappointment, because He knows what I am going to do and isn’t surprised by it. But I wish that I could do better. I wish that I would be able to really trust Him to provide. Especially when the things I think He is asking me to do, will make it harder for us to provide what we want to for our family.
The thing is, we have all the things we need. We really do. It does get tight from time to time… but we haven’t gone hungry. We have extra food in our pantry that we could eat off of for a while. Many people don’t have that.
I know that we are blessed. I know that we have more than we need, and that even with the economics the way they are, and how hard it is to pay the bills, we are still in the very top percent of the wealthiest people in the world. How I wish that more of our resources we freed up so that we could give more.
I know that God wants me to trust Him with what we have. He wants me to trust Him period. No matter what the situation is. I have learned to trust Him in some areas. Now He is giving me more areas to work on.
Areas where doing what He says seems so foolish….
But His foolishness is wiser than my wisdom. His viewpoint is from so much higher, and He can see all the things that I can’t.
Praise God for that. If I were in charge of my life, I would make such a mess of it!
There is joy in knowing that no matter what happens He knows it all and is in control!
No comments:
Post a Comment