Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings in the name of our incomprehensibly great God. Although it can sometimes be frustrating not to be able to understand God and His work, it is also a great comfort to realize how much greater He is than what we are.
Lesson #36. God is beyond man's understanding. Probably man's most difficult challenge in trials comes because he wants to understand. He wants to understand why this is happening. He wants to understand what God is doing through it.
Being able to understand probably would help man to be able to endure. This is true in other areas such as undergoing painful operations, wearing uncomfortable braces, and pursuing demanding exercise routines. Because people understand the process and because they anticipate the benefit, they are willing to endure.
There are two issues when we try to apply this spiritually. One is that God wants us to walk by faith and to demonstrate our commitment to trust Him; many life trials are designed specifically for this purpose. The second is that it is not even possible for man to fully understand God.
"Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like Him? Who has enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?" (36:22-23). God's power is beyond man's comprehension. God's ability to teach through various methods is beyond man's comprehension. God's sovereignty is beyond man's comprehension. God is so far above man that very often man can't even relate. Man understands only the barest minimum of what God knows fully. Over the next chapter and a half, Elihu demonstrates this truth by using the weather as an example.
There is the water cycle (36:27-28). God evaporates moisture from the oceans, stores it up in the clouds, and then rains it down to provide for man. Man has discovered this cycle and knows the steps, but he doesn't fully comprehend how God does it or how God has the ability to control it.
There are thunderstorms (36:29-37:5, 37:15). The clouds roll in and pile up in darkness. The lightning flashes forth, and the thunder rumbles. Man has tried hard to understand and explain thunder and lightning, and he can partially do so. But man has no concept of how God can cause lightning to strike in the precise location that He determines (36:32), or how thunder booms forth the existence of God (36:33-37:5). He does not understand how God can use the same type of storm (or even the very same storm) for different purposes. A storm can be intended for judgment or for provision (36:31). The same storm that sets fire to one man's barn or batters his crop merely provides much-needed precipitation for someone else.
There is winter (37:6-10). God commands the snow to fall on the earth. The storms can be so intense that man's work and activity must cease. Animals hide out during the storm or even hibernate for the winter. God makes standing water turn to ice. Man has studied these concepts and has some understanding, but he can't fully explain them. He can't even accurately predict them. Despite his sincerest determination, he cannot always plow his way through them to continue the activities that he is set on doing.
There are the layers and layers of different types of clouds (37:16). There is the scorching and unbearable heat (37:17). There is the broad expanse of unbroken sky (37:18). There is splendid light (37:22); is this the northern lights or the glorious dawn or some other phenomenon? These are more things that man cannot fully understand.
Elihu's conclusion about thunderstorms was that "great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend" (37:5). He admonishes Job, "Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God" (37:14). God not only makes the storms that amaze us and overwhelm us, but God controls the storms. "And it is turned round about by his counsels" (37:12). "Around God is awesome majesty" (37:22). "Touching the Almighty, ... he is excellent in power" (37:23). This being the case, "Shall it be told him that I speak?" (37:20). Rather, men should "fear Him" (37:24).
Trying to understand just this one aspect of the weather stretches man's brain beyond its limits. Man tries, but he cannot comprehend all the science. God's design, power, and control are too great. But that's not the end! God is doing far more than just science. God is controlling the science and using it for His divine purposes. "That they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth" (37:12).
Elihu provides some possibilities for how God uses the weather for His purposes. "He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy" (27:13). Sometimes God uses the weather to bring correction and judgment on wicked men. Sometimes God uses the weather to demonstrate His lovingkindness for mankind in general or for individuals. And sometimes God's use of the weather has nothing whatsoever to do with man; it is merely His provision for the world He has created.
"Behold, God is great, and we do know him not" (36:26). He is so far beyond our comprehension. Why then do we strive so hard to understand the intricacies of everything that He does? Our brains are not big enough for that. Our God is too big to be fully understood and interpreted by mere humans. Sometimes we just have to trust that the God who created, controls, and uses the weather is quite capable of doing the right thing in our lives, of taking care of us, and of leading us exactly where He wants us to be.
Our great God will perform His plan for you this week. Rest in it. Take comfort in His greatness, and be at peace.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
Archived letters: www.dearmissionarylady.blogspot.com.
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