THE WISDOM OF GOD!
Greetings church family-
Growing up, I loved to read about scientists and inventors. One of my favorites to read about was Albert Einstein. It was said that Einstein used to spend countless hours just pondering about the characteristics of light. When he was 16, he asked himself, “What would it be like to chase a beam of light?” From that point on, his pondering and wondering and imagining about the properties of light would lead to pivotal discoveries in physics regarding light, such as special relativity and the photoelectric effect.
I also loved reading about Isaac Newton. As brilliant as Albert Einstein was, most scientists will tell you that the greatest scientific mind of all time was Newton. In 1665, young Newton was studying at Cambridge University, when a great plague swept over London. Forced to quarantine, Newton had to leave the university and return to his family’s home in Lincolnshire, England to live in near solitude for the next 18 months. During this time, Newton invented calculus, discovered the laws of gravitation, and discovered the theory of color. Einstein's and Newton's groundbreaking inventions and discoveries forever changed the landscape of mathematics and physics.
There is something about how people think, how they use logic and reason to create and innovate that just blows my mind. But no one can touch the mind of God! Einstein may have discovered properties of light, and Newton may have discovered gravitation (a theory Einstein improved upon), but it was the mind of God that brought light and gravity into existence!
Paul was awestruck by the mind of God. In Romans 11:33-36, he writes: Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
God’s wisdom is so deep, that years after Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, imprisoned unjustly, and then promoted to nobility in Egypt, his words to his brothers was, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen. 50:20). God’s wisdom took betrayal and suffering and wove it into salvation for many!
God’s judgments are so untraceable that, to the world, the cross of Calvary was foolishness. Hebrew culture was all too familiar with the scripture in Deuteronomy 21:23, which states that “anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” In their eyes, a crucified Jesus was under God’s curse. Little did they realize that this “curse” would be the very means of the salvation of the world! No human mind could have conceived that through weakness would come victory, through death would come life.
Who has been God’s counselor? Does God run the universe by committee? Does God consult a council of advisors before making a decision? There may be times we find ourselves trying to give God advice on what He should do and when He should do it. But God does not need anyone’s counsel. His ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). We are not called to counsel God, but to trust in God.
Corrie ten Boom and her family hid Jews during the Holocaust. Arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, she endured unspeakable suffering. At one point, Corrie complained about the fleas in the barracks. But her sister Betsie reminded her to give thanks in all circumstances. Later they discovered that the fleas kept the guards away, which allowed them to hold secret Bible studies. What looked like misery was, in God’s hidden wisdom, a protection. Corrie later wrote, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
Church family, in the midst of your busy schedules, take time to stop and ponder the ways you’ve seen God’s wisdom reveal itself in your lives. Maybe you prayed a prayer that God did not answer the way you wanted, and later, circumstances led you to be grateful for that unanswered prayer. Maybe you endured a difficult season only to discover that it prepared you for an opportunity ahead that you didn’t see coming. Whatever the case, God’s wisdom is amazing, full of wonder and inspiration. Meditate on it. Pray for it. Worship from it. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)
Through His wisdom, may you be reminded that God is for you, God is with you, and God loves you!
Pastor Chris
