When We Don’t Understand

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? Proverbs 20:24 (NLT)

We are sometimes faced with unpleasant circumstances that have no reasonable explanation and no satisfactory answer to the question “why” – nothing makes sense or brings comfort. All we know is that we are hurting and confused.

The NLT commentary on Proverb 20-24 states “We are often confused by the events around us. Some things we will never understand until years later when we look back and see how God was working… We shouldn’t worry if we do not understand everything as it happens.” 

To summarize, God is not surprised by our struggles; He has a plan; in good times and bad we can trust Him.

English theologian Arthur W. Pink (1886 – 1952) on the Supremacy of God says “Our lives are neither the product of blind fate nor the result of capricious chance, but every detail of them was ordained from all eternity, and is now ordered by the living and reigning God. Not a hair of our heads can be touched without His permission.” In other words, with wisdom and love, God cares for and directs all things in the universe, including those that concerns you.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to “Rejoice always,  pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Child of God, our Father in Heaven does not want us to worry about things we do not understand, even when they hurt. He wants us to remember that He loves us (John 3:16) and that He is working out all of our experiences for our goodwill and not for harm (Romans 8:28).

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, you are great and mighty, deserving of all praise honor and glory. May your Kingdom come and your will be done in and through our lives. Forgive us for the times we let doubt and fear into our space to blind us to the fact that you never stop loving us. Thank you Father for being better to us than we deserve and our finite minds can ever know. Thank you for saying no to things we pray for when you know they will bring more pain than joy. Thank you for increasing our faith and teaching us to wait patiently for answers to our prayers and to not cease to pray while we wait. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who prays for us when we are too burdened to pray or just don’t know how to pray. Thank you for being a good and loving Father, and we love you. To you, Father, be dominion and power for ever and ever. We pray all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Always by God’s Word and prayer,  

Cecile