GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WORKS (1)

“So you do not know the WORKS of GOD who makes everything” – Ecclesiastes 11:5b

Scriptures provide several pointers to the reality of GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WORKS: “As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the WORKS of GOD who makes everything” (Ecc.11:5). Solomon reminds us how limited our understanding of the world is; we are unable to truly understand the magnificence and greatness of God’s power. Jesus says, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes” (Jh.3:8a). Just like we are unable to comprehend the path of the wind, we are also incapable of truly understanding the mystery of a baby in a mother’s womb. Such a beautiful mystery it is!

A mystery is a secret or something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. Certain truths are concrete, finite, and tangible. Mysteries are not. The very essence of a mystery makes it hard to grasp. God is always at work, but we will never know all the details of what He is doing. For example, Jesus says: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7). God is above all things. We may not know all of the times or dates that He will act. All we know is that God doesn’t act or think as humans do and His ways and thoughts are always higher than ours: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa.55: 8-9).

Although the saying “God works (or moves) in mysterious ways” doesn’t appear in the Bible, scripture is filled with examples that illustrate this. Abraham would have been shocked when God commanded him to offer Isaac as a human sacrifice, but relieved when God subsequently provided Himself a lamb (Gen.22). We can imagine young Joseph wondering when he was sold into slavery, wrongly accused of rape, and left to suffer in prison, but he might have been even more shocked when God made his dream a reality (Gen.37, 39-45). God called Ehud, a man with a withered right hand, to deliver Israel from the oppressive rule of the Moabites (Jud.3). God stopped time, at Joshua’s request, on the day He gave the Amorites over to the Israelites. He did this to ensure that the battle was won by the end of the day (Jos.10).

Who could have predicted that God’s plan to save fallen humanity would involve sending His beloved Son into this world through a young virgin, then allowing Him to suffer horribly on the cross? However, that God’s works are often puzzling doesn’t mean that He wants us to remain ignorant about His Character or His Ways. He actually desires that we seek Him with everything in us; promised to open our understanding in supernatural ways; and to reveal Himself to us: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Pro.25:2).

We never fully comprehend God’s surprises or know how He is going to work in our lives. He is so majestic our finite human minds can never fully comprehend all there is to know about Him. However, while God is mysterious, we can seek Him and know Him. Of course, life’s uncertainties are not easy, but if we knew all the details, would we need God? This is why faith is needed. So much of our relationship with Jesus is such a mystery. That is why it takes faith to trust Him, especially in all of the activities we can’t understand. We must not spend time trying to figure everything out. While it’s smart to prepare and plan when we can, it’s best to trust that God knows what He is doing. After all, He is the One who “makes everything.”