Mystery

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 7:15) “In this meaningless life of mine, I have seen both of these; a righteous man perishing in his righteousness and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.”  Solomon had what we would consider as a good and successful life.  He was wise beyond measure and he was rich beyond riches.  He had all of this, built the temple in Jerusalem, was the son of David, and yet he called his life meaningless.  He must have figured out that money and fame don’t always equal meaningfulness.  ALso, even in all of his wisdom, Solomon couldn’t figure out why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.  This one mystery seems to be such a stumbling block to those seeking God. So many say that they would believe in God if only they could understand why a young child passes or why a young lady was raped or why a young man was shot and killed in a drive-by.  

 

Even Solomon couldn’t figure this out.  Perhaps this is the one mystery that God will not let us figure out because He wants our faith to be the answer.  He wants our faith to be strong enough to believe that He is in control and that He has a deeper and wider perspective on life and death than we do.  Perhaps we need to have enough faith to believe that He is sovereign and His perfect will is beyond our human comprehension.

 

I will have faith.  I will understand that I won’t understand.  I believe God is sovereign; that He sees the big picture and knows all things while my perspective is largely myopic.  I can’t doubt at the passing of a young one or a loved one.  I will just lean on Him and know that His understanding goes far beyond mine.  I don’t understand this and frankly sometimes I get mad about it, but I will turn those things over to Him and seek His peace that passes all understanding during those trying times.