Sense

<<clear understanding>>
To our finite minds with limited understanding many things in this world, do not make sense to us.  In our inability to decipher what is going on we struggle in our faith and relationship with God, and often pull away from people too. Due to our helplessness and uncertainty, we are prone to complain and question God when things don’t work out as we think they should. However, God is sovereign and in complete control – His plans and purposes will come to pass (Prov 16:4, 19:21; Isa 14:24, 46:10, 55:11; Ezek 12:25). It is better to co-operate and work with Him rather than fight against what He is doing and even being compelled go His way (2 Kgs 19:28; Isa 37:29).  While we are given freewill to choose the Bible also declares, “The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord and He will direct it the way He pleases” (Prov 21:1). Such is the case with the ungodly kings Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, both of whom God refers as “My servant” for in certain instances they unintentionally carried out God’s purposes (Isa 43:10, 44:28, 45:1; Jer 27:6; Ezek 29:18-20). These humanly powerful leaders were acting under the influence of divinely directed circumstances and strategies; and though they rejected the guidance of God, their conduct was compliant to His will. Similarly the authorities in Jerusalem had their evil reasons for Jesus’ death, and God had His reason, based on righteousness to bring salvation (Act 2:23).

and He states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…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). Many times His ways do not make sense to us, but we can rest in the knowledge that He is always good, and, therefore, everything He does is good (Ps 13:6, 100:5). We are instructed to pray, "Your will be done..." (Mt 6:10). We should be like Jesus, who when facing the agony of the cross submitted His will to that of His Father and in confidence entrusted Himself into God’s loving hands (Lk 22:42, 23:46).  Without a relationship to God all is meaningless, yet our purpose is found in Him (Eccl 1:2,14, 12:13; Jn 10:10).              

ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths” (Prov 3:5,6). Do not attempt to struggle on in the impotency of the flesh but join with God, working as a team place yourself in alignment with His plans for your life. We are to do our duty, fulfilling our responsibilities in the secular and spiritual realms, the public and private arenas and together with much prayer, then leave the outcome to God. Do what you believe is best (and most in agreement with Scripture) leaving the results up to Him. In humility and trust, we can rely on His superior wisdom, ability, and provision. It is true, “The secret things belong to God” (Deut 29:29). We must remember this life is not about us, yet He will complete the work He started in us (Phil 1:6).

who God is (the all-powerful God) and to remember who we are (loved, redeemed adopted children of God). Remind yourself of God’s sovereign control of all things in life, humbly accepting your own inability to always understand His ways; yet confident because you know God is weaving all things together for good, even when we cannot see past our current circumstances. Each part is necessary for the overall outworking of His plans.

We can learn a lot from the life of Joseph. God was orchestrating the events for His purposes, yet Joseph was unaware of the pivotal position he would eventually play.  He must have been frustrated at times, for when doing everything with goodwill and integrity it repeatedly seemed to turn against him. He experienced painful rejection from his family, false accusations from his boss’ wife resulting in 13 years of wrongful imprisonment and his request to fellow cellmates forgotten (Gen 37:19,20,28, 39:12,19, 40:15,23). How many times he must have cried out, ‘Where are you God?’ Yet God had been continuously involved in his life and arranging the situations and the pieces finally came together and his destiny became evident as he was now elevated to second-in-command in Egypt for a specific reason (Gen 41:41-44). The Bible records, “Then he remembered his dreams…” that he had received numerous years ago (Gen 37:5-10, 42:9). Throughout his preparation time he had maintained a clear conscience and later gave a reasoned answer to his brothers, “You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen 50:20). It is important to realise behind the visible natural realm there is the invisible spiritual dimension where Satan is always opposed to what God is doing – yet each time God and His kingdom comes out the winner, even if from our viewpoint the ‘seen’ results take longer to appear than we like.

you consider your life is not being ministered to as you consider it should be. Turn your attention to your loving heavenly Father who is for you, with nothing able to separate you from His love (Rom 8:31,38,39). Praise Him for your connection to Him.

We may think life is not fair, yet we have things much better than the vast majority of people in the world. Instead, stop complaining, start counting your blessings and cooperate with God in what He is doing. Rather than being focused on finding answers and solutions to situations put your effort into worshipping Him and surrendering yourself to Him. Worship is such a vital part of our interaction with God, and enables us to experience His tangible presence (Ps 100:4). "You are enthroned on the praises...For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears attentive to their prayer" (Ps 22:3, 34:15).  His goodness must be dominant in our thoughts.   

See also: attitude, disillusion, fairness, freewill, give up, Joseph, night (of the soul), not being ministered to, obedience, perspective, providence, sovereignty of God, struggle, test, trust, why.