To The Girl Who Doesn't Understand The Way God Is Working

To be honest, I had a very different idea for what this week’s blog post was going to cover. But I didn’t expect our world to be in this particular state right now (or ever), so I’m calling an audible.

I’m sure you’ve called your fair share of audibles over the last few weeks as well. Between keeping 6-feet away from other people, trying to find what you need at the grocery store, worrying about your employment status, and washing your hands 87 times a day, your life looks completely different than it did just a few weeks ago. 

In times like this, it’s very easy to start asking, “What in the world is God up to?”

Why is He working this way? What’s the point of all this? Why did this have to happen right now? 

Those questions are probably just the tip of the iceberg for you, as they are for me. Finding ourselves in this set of circumstances makes us realize how little we understand about the way God works. In fact, the only thing we even can understand in a time like this is that we have far less control over our lives than we think we do. 

I’m going to shoot straight with you. I have absolutely no idea why this pandemic is happening, and I don’t know why we are having to endure this kind of struggle and hardship. I bet you’re probably thinking the same thing. 

But have you ever stopped to consider, even if God told us why all of this was happening, who’s to say we would even be capable of understanding His reasoning?

Think about it from the standpoint of this analogy. During the first year of your life, your parents probably took you to the doctor all the time. You were constantly going in for checkups so the doctors could make sure you were healthy and on the right track. Usually, these checkups would include some vaccinations. The nurse would come into the room while your mom or dad held you in their lap, and a small needle would puncture your cute, chubby leg, causing you to burst into tears.

Your parents would try their best to console you. They’d hold you, talk to you in soothing voices, pat you on the back, but no matter what they tried, you’d keep crying. 

In that moment, your parents could have looked you square in the face and said, “Sweetie, I know this hurts right now, but I promise this is for your good. This is going to protect you from something even more painful down the road.” But even if they did, you wouldn’t understand. You would have absolutely no idea what they were saying to you. All you could understand was that the needle hurt, you were in pain, and you wanted to feel normal again.

Our relationship with our heavenly Father often works the same way, particularly in times like the ones we’re facing right now. He knows we’re in pain. He knows we’re uncomfortable, and He knows we want things to go back to normal. But He also knows that there is a purpose in what He’s allowing us to endure. He knows what’s best for us, and He will use whatever means necessary to give us His best and prepare us for what’s to come. 

So, wherever you find yourself in the midst of this scary, painful, and uncertain time, remember this. Just because we want to know the reason behind this suffering doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to understand that reason, even if we were told. 

Instead, maybe we just need to trust that God knows best, regardless of whether or not we can grasp His definition of “best.” Maybe this is an invitation to rest in the knowledge that we are loved and cared for by an all-knowing God, who has an eternal perspective that far outreaches our own limited viewpoint. 

Don’t forget, we were never commanded to understand God. We were only told to trust Him…to not lean on our own understanding, but to acknowledge Him with every step, every moment, every thought, and every word, and if we do, He promises to guide us down a path of peace. 

So in the midst of a world who is desperate for understanding, let’s choose to trust the One whose understanding far surpasses our own.