Among the many reasons to read the Bible, sometimes it’s the basics that leave the most profound impacts. While we can learn about world history and traditions of eras past, we also learn about God. The intimate, spiritual connection that He desires to have with each of us is revealed page by page. Part of that connection includes encouragement.
Scripture is filled with stories of people who chose to trust and believe God, even while they didn’t fully understand everything that was happening around them. It’s easy to get caught up in the stories. Living in a technologically-advanced time, it’s the flashiest stories that get the most attention. However, there were real human beings, people just like us, who lived through those experiences.
Even when the situation seemed uncertain, they forged ahead in obedience. I imagine Abraham mourned month after month when there was no sign of pregnancy. Job may have paled when he learned that all his wealth was gone in the blink of an eye. As a doting father, he probably wept bitterly at the death of his children. Moses rebutted with every excuse he could find not fulfill God’s calling for his life. Hannah might have sauntered her way to the temple when the time came to drop off young Samuel to his new home. And countless others.
In the moment, they didn’t understand how things could possibly work out, even doing things God’s way. While the obstacles they faced were familiar, the promises of God felt like a far off fantasy.
Yet, they trusted.
Given God’s unblemished track record in their lives, they knew He could be believed, especially when it was hard. There were things happening around them that they couldn’t see nor were they permitted to see. Weighing every emotion, every argument, every step, they chose to believe.
Given God’s unblemished track record in our lives, He can be trusted. God doesn’t waste anything. Not a tear, not an experience, not a miracle, not a blessing. It’s okay that we don’t live from His perspective. God, our Creator, doesn’t have to justify Himself to us, His creation. He doesn’t ask us to understand Him, just to trust Him. In our human condition, we can’t tend to this world and its citizens with the grace and the omnipotence that God is.
We don’t have to understand it all. We can choose to trust and believe.
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by Sabrina Jacques-Rowe
Communications Director, Henderson Highway Church