Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Why We Don't Get Complete Answers

Who among us has not asked "Why, God?" Whether our questions come from profound tragedy or merely grating irritations, we know the Sunday school answers but often reject them as unsatisfying--surely there are other ways for God to make us holy, to bring Himself glory, to lead another to Christ. John Piper writes:

"...we can always object that there are other easier ways for God to accomplish those things. We want to know more specifics: Why now? Why this much? Why this often? Why this way? Why these people? The problem is, we would have to be God to grasp all that God is doing in our problems."

Piper recently posted a meditation on why God doesn't provide answers to our questions. He relates a hypothetical story of a blacksmith who suffers in a seemingly pointless and trivial way, and concludes:

"God cannot make plain all he is doing, because there are millions and millions and millions and millions of effects of every event in your life, the good and the bad. God guides them all. They all have micro purposes and macro purposes. He cannot tell you all of them because your brain can’t hold all of them."

It's like when I ask Steve to explain something he's doing at work. Sometimes I wonder why I even asked, because it's not like I'm going to understand the explanation anyway! My brain just isn't wired to understand the things Steve does at work...how much less so can I wrap my mind around the answers to my questions about our infinite God and His ways.

Perhaps you, like me, will find this reminder of the small size of your brain to be encouraging and helpful as you seek to trust Him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just read that article yesterday and found it very helpful!