The Lord "Acts in Mysterious Ways"
Perhaps I should not be writing this article. Most people are likely to disagree with me. I can live with that. But I just really want to say something about a common saying people have who believe in God, but don't really know what Scripture says...
They often say, "The Lord acts in mysterious ways."
By this they are saying God sometimes does things people might feel are strange, inexplicable.
To be honest, the people who say this are probably just passing along the words they have heard from others, perhaps even a clergyman.
But really, they are not true words. Well-intentioned, but not true.
Consider these words:
John 17:3 "This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ." If we come to know God, as Jesus invites us to do, we will not think His ways are "mysterious".
Hebrews 8:11b, 12 "They will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful toward their unrighteous deeds, and I will no longer call their sins to mind."
Ah. There are many more. And, no, we cannot know everything about God. But those "mysterious ways" people speak of are almost always about things we CAN know about God if we only just read the Bible.
There, I've said it. No more from me, then.
Image Credit » Bible https://pixabay.com/photos/bible-book-christian-holy-reading-1108074/
Comments
MegL wrote on July 31, 2019, 2:51 PM
And perhaps I should not comment, as I do not have the knowledge that you have. I suppose I hear these words in circumstances where for instance, a woman loses a baby through miscarriage and no one knows why or a child or someone really fit and healthy is struck down with cancer or some other serious illness. The individuals themselves have not, to their knowledge, done anything to cause what they see as misfortune and they are maybe wondering, "Why me?" The other phrase I hear at these times is "When one door closes, another opens".
1VinceSummers wrote on July 31, 2019, 3:02 PM
I hear you. Why me is a question of the distraught. In calmer circumstances, one might suggest, "Why not you?" Because the scriptures say, at Ecclesiastes 9:11, "time and unexpected events overtake them all." It's not from God. It's part of the imperfect human condition. We're all subject. "When one door closes, another opens" is (frankly) just wishful thinking.