Isaiah 55:8 “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.
There are times when I just don’t get what God is doing. To paraphrase Shakespeare, my prayers seem to be “filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I feel helpless in the face of injustices, and frustrated that God doesn’t just fix it! When that happens, doubt creeps in like a fog—it obscures my faith and dampens my spirit. The finish line blurs, tempting me to stop short.
If that sometimes describes you, take heart! We are not alone. The writer to the Hebrew Christians exhorted his fellow believers to “hold unswervingly” to their hope (Hebrews 10:23). He challenged them to recall earlier days when they stood their ground in the face of suffering, when they didn’t give in to insults and persecution, when they joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property because they knew they “had better and lasting possessions” (10:32-34). These were seasoned believers. Yet they were in danger of not just losing their confidence in God but of throwing it away! They are being urged to persevere…to believe…to trust in His faithfulness.
Contemporary songwriter JJ Heller’s powerful lyrics, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know who you are reflect the conviction we need if we hope to persevere when life doesn’t make sense. Our loyalty to God rests on our faith in who he is. No other attribute of God’s character takes center stage in both Old and New Testaments more than his love. From “He is loving toward all he has made” (Psalm 145:13) to “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), Scripture reveals that God keeps his covenant of love to a thousand generations.
When we don’t understand what God is doing, if we remember who he is, we will inevitably get to the why. Nothing he allows in our lives falls outside the context of his love.
So no matter how perplexing your circumstances are right now, no matter how dim your understanding, don’t chuck your confidence in the character of God. Grab hold of his unchanging love and don’t let go….
Eventually the fog will clear, you’ll see the finish line…you’ll get it.