“God moves in a mysterious way.”[i]
William Cowper, poet and hymn writer

When we encounter the God of the Bible, we realize He declares Himself to be all-powerful (omnipotent), all-present (omnipresent), and all-knowing (omniscient). In stark contrast, we are none of those things. Accurately understanding God is the only way to gain a correct understanding of ourselves. The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1). It was during a difficult year of national change as the long-time king, Uzziah, died. When Isaiah sees the Lord, his first response is, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). For both Job and Isaiah, God’s majesty went well beyond their limited mental, physical, and spiritual perspective.

Both the Bible and our common human experience teach us that we are far from all-powerful, all-present, or all-knowing. We each must face the limits of our mental and physical abilities. All of humanity is constrained by time and space. We can only be in one place and in one moment at a time. The proverb is true: Time waits for no man. God, by stark contrast, is outside of time, space, and unencumbered by any inability. C.S. Lewis writes, “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all.”[ii]

Simply stated: there is a God and we are not him. His abilities and ways are unique only to Him and, as we’ll see, radically different than our own.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven – what can you do? Deeper than Sheol – what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. Job 11:7-9

God’s way is holy.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. Psalm 77:11-13

God’s way is everlasting.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Psalm 33:11

God’s thoughts are wise.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Romans 11:33-34

God’s ways are beyond critique.

Behold, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, “You have done wrong?” Job 36:22-23

God’s view is heavenly.

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

God’s power is supernatural.

As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. Ecclesiastes 11:5

Our Ways

Humanity is the polar opposite. Not only in our abilities and inabilities, but our values and views are completely different from God. Arthur Pink accurately writes, “Much of the contents of the Bible conflicts with the sentiments of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God.”[iii] Our way isn’t just opposite; our way is opposed to God’s way. The Apostle Paul writes that the fallen mind “is hostile to God” (Romans 8:7). Songs from every recent generation and genre declare, essentially, it is my life and I’ll do what I want with it. In our own poetry, we defy God by claiming to be “the master of [our] fate…the captain of [our] soul.”[iv] In his letter to the Romans, Paul summarizes what direction we steer our own souls.

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:10-18

That’s a definitive, comprehensive view of humanity’s spiritual condition. God is holy, we are anything but. Our ways are earthly, foolish, disobedient, rebellious, and broken. And on top of all of that, we are dirt. Psalm 103:14 says, “We are dust.” We are both earthly and earthy. King Solomon writes, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

The following illustration falls ridiculously short of capturing the poetic beauty of the prophet Isaiah’s phrase, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,” (Isaiah 55:9), so please forgive me. Every parent has a perspective that their children lack. Experience has given them wisdom and, in some cases, a better point of view. When a child is young, the warnings may be about crossing the street or strangers or electricity. As a child grows, the warnings change. They may revolve around relationships, money, jobs, driving, social media, or other issues of which the parent has a more mature perspective. Using this simple idea, God is the parent and we are the child. His view is greater, higher, and wiser. We are limited, shortsighted, stubborn, rash, and often reckless. God is God and we are not. But what if we were God, just for a moment? Let’s imagine you or I get to be God for a day.

God for a Day

In the early 2000’s, a movie came out exploring this idea. The movie titled Bruce Almighty stars Jim Carrey as a man given God’s power for a week. I can’t recommend the movie, but the story is somewhat honest. At first, Carrey’s character uses his on-loan powers for selfish purposes. One particular divine “duty” the title character is assigned is the answering of prayers. He decides to answer all prayers with an automatic “yes” just so he can avoid the work. When the pressure of divinity grows too great, Bruce realizes he needs and wants God to be God.

Let me make this clear – we aren’t, we can’t be, and, contrary to certain religions, we never will be God (gods, goddesses, or one of the gods). This is purely an imaginative exercise, but for the sake of an illustration – what if you were God? What if I was God? Holiness would be out the window! Like Bruce, I would use this borrowed power for selfish purposes. Oh, and lots of smiting! Anyone who has ever offended me, lied about me, stole from me, or hurt me…smitten! As a matter of fact, anyone who does evil also smitten! Oh wait, I just smote (is that correct grammar?) the whole world. I wouldn’t be a god who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). My rigid personality would probably lead to judgment all the time!

Maybe you’d be a more loving god? You are naturally softer and nicer than me. You’d forgive everybody for everything because you’re just a super nice, gracious deity. No judgment – just love! I suppose you’d be viewed as kind and benevolent. But what happens to the victims when you forgive all the villains? Are they just supposed to get over their abuse? You would inadvertently create a world with zero justice – no consequences for any evil or wrong. What about just eliminating the concept of evil altogether? Oh wait, we just by default abolished good as well. With this train of thought we find ourselves in an untenable, philosophical quandary.

Maybe you’d be a god who was more human, more in the moment. Eventually, that would lead to the human default of being moody, inconsistent, and unpredictable. You might paint beautiful sunrises and sunsets one day and the next bury Miami in a snowstorm. “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[v] What would divine power do?

We need God to be God. And thankfully, God is not a man.

I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. Hosea 11:9

We are not God and God is not like us. God’s ways are not our ways. Our vantage point leaves us stuck in the present, moving minute by minute into the future, completely unable to change the past or control what’s coming. On the other hand, God controls the future. And although He doesn’t change the past, He can fix it. Or to use an important word from the Bible – He redeems it.

Joseph and the Redeemer

Included in the Old Testament book of Genesis is one of the more dramatic and puzzling stories in the Bible. The storyline centers around Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob (later named Israel). The mix of Jacob’s favoritism, Joseph’s immaturity, and the brother’s jealousy was a powder keg. Joseph’s brothers grew to hate him so much that they collectively decided to murder him. This wasn’t isolated sibling rivalry. Just the sight of this young man infuriated them. One day as Joseph approached them, instead of murder, they changed their minds and decided to sell him into slavery. In some ways, this fate could be viewed as worse than death. Psalm 105:18 says that Joseph’s “feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron.” Little did they know that their treachery was all part of God’s plan. The brothers returned home to their father with a fabricated story about Joseph being killed by a wild beast. Joseph was now a slave far from his father and his home. The journey took him to Egypt, prison, and eventually by God’s providence Joseph became second in charge of all of Egypt. It’s a miraculous turn of events. (For the full story read Genesis chapters 37, 39-50 – a one paragraph summary does not do justice to this saga.)

As the years go by, Joseph’s brothers are forced by a famine to come to Egypt for food. Who do they encounter? Joseph! He’s in charge of the sale and distribution of food. It’s a phenomenal setup for the best revenge story ever! But God’s ways had become Joseph’s ways. He does not ignore or excuse their sin against him. Look what he says:

I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life…And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:4-5, 7-8

Later in the story, as the family had been reunited and saved from starvation, together they mourned the death of their father Jacob. This caused great anxiety and fear in Joseph’s brothers. They assumed because Jacob was gone, Joseph’s revenge would now be unleashed. Read Joseph’s startling words:

Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:19-20

In the account of Joseph, God’s complete control and glory is on display. However, God’s way of accomplishing this beautiful, compelling, transformative, and joyous journey was long, methodical, and, at times, unclear. Eventually, Joseph recognized that God was the author of the whole story. God was the hero, not Joseph. God got the glory, not Joseph. And God got the glory in His way. Every confusing twist and turn had been divinely designed. Humanly-speaking, Joseph’s story seems like a perfect set up for revenge. Divinely speaking, Joseph’s story is an awesome example of redemption. It is one of many illustrations that highlight a really important part of God’s character. God’s ways are the ways of the Great Redeemer.

In the Old Testament, a redeemer was a person of important cultural significance. When a relative was murdered, it was up to the nearest relative to seek retribution. This person was called a redeemer. When a man died, his closest single relative would marry the widow. This was called redeeming. A redeemer was one who would buy back property that a relative sold in distress. He would redeem what had been lost. A redeemer had the noble task of avenging, delivering, ransoming, and restoring. Job, the suffering servant of God, in great faith proclaimed, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).

God is the Redeemer. He restores what has been broken. He finds what has been lost. He gives justice to the abused. He ransoms the captives. He buys back what has been stolen. He removes the shame of the grieving, lonely widow. In Joseph, God redeemed his suffering to bring salvation.

Does it have to be suffering?

Why does the Redeemer so often use suffering and trials? Why not sunshine and roses? Because success doesn’t sanctify. We want ease, but ease never produces righteousness. Suffering does. The Psalmist writes, “Before I was afflicted I went astray…It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes…in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:67, 71, 75). In the depths of his suffering Job cries out, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15, KJV).

In one of his letters to the church at Corinth, Paul clues us in to his own suffering. He writes:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

I am so glad we don’t know what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, because this biblical promise isn’t limited to oppressive people or bad eyesight or some other specific difficulty. God’s promise to preserve His people through all suffering is the guarantee to redeem all forms of trials or trouble we may face. Paul reveals the central purpose in his suffering and suffering for all time. God takes His children to a school[vi] of suffering to keep us from becoming self-reliant. Chuck Swindoll, one of the great preachers and writers of our time, sees God’s way of inflicting suffering as the Lord removing all our crutches that we by default rely on rather than trusting and depending on God.[vii]

“God will never give you more than you can handle,” is a pithy, Bible-sounding statement that a lot of well-meaning Christians give as encouragement, but it is not true. God will give you more than you can handle, so that you will stop relying on your own strength, resources, connections, plans, schemes, and ideas! Paul writes in that same letter to the Corinthian church:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 2 Corinthians 1:8-10

Paul even goes so far as to say, “We rejoice in our sufferings” (Romans 5:3). James writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). Those thoughts are completely contrary to the way our human minds think. We want God to conform to our ways, rather than conforming our ways and thoughts to His. The Apostle was seeing and understanding things God’s way.

Suffering, trials, difficulties, and wounds are God’s gracious way of training. The Bible says, “He wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal” (Job 5:18). When God wants to write a great story that displays His glory, He breaks a man or woman. He deeply wounds them. If He doesn’t, we’ll hijack His glory. We’ll grab the trophy. We will take credit, accept the accolades, and revel in the praise. In our fallen state, we want the glory because that’s our way! And God’s way isn’t our way.

We as humans love to achieve, because then we can accept some or all of the credit. God’s ways of grace are not about achieving but receiving. We receive grace and mercy. And because we received and didn’t achieve, God gets the glory. Paul received grace from God to endure during this trial. We must be trained by suffering. We must be baptized in anguish[viii] before we truly see our fallen ways and the glorious ways of God.

Redeemed

Think about the stories from the Bible we have seen so far. Each person suffered tremendously because that is God’s way. Then and only then can there be REDEMPTION! People see the redeemed and then they look for the Redeemer! God gets the glory His way!

The blind man from John chapter 9 – REDEEMED!

Years of struggling with his disability left his survival to the mercy of people walking by. He was likely only able to eat because of people’s pity and charity. In the end he believes, worships, and sees Jesus face to face!

Job, the suffering servant – REDEEMED!

Job’s story ends with the words, “And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12). Job’s story began with God calling him His servant and ends with God calling Job “my servant” (Job 42:7). Suffering didn’t change Job’s standing with God, but it did change the servant. For the first time, he saw who God truly was.

Joseph – REDEEMED!

He seems to have been a disrespectful, entitled brat. When the story ends, he says, “Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:19-20, NLT).

The Apostle Paul – REDEEMED!

Even in his trials, Paul proclaims, “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Then in his final letter, with the glory of victory in sight, he tells Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

All of their suffering, trials, and difficulties were redeemed. They were given meaning and purpose. God never wastes pain. He never inflicts more than is necessary. It is supremely for His glory, but also for our good! In the book titled The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis writes, “This is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backward and turn even that agony into a glory.”[ix] Moses writes, “Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil” (Psalm 90:15). Through the prophet Joel, God says, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25). God doesn’t change the past, but He does redeem, restore, and renew.

I have seen this. Crisis leads us to the Lord in a way that a life of ease never would. A few years ago, a young couple named Mike and Cindy showed up to our church. They were expecting their first child. We had mutual friends, so we connected quickly. A few months went by and I got a phone call that this couple, well into their third trimester, had miscarried. I raced to the hospital. I’ll never forget the frightened look on Cindy’s face. I watched Mike care so deeply for his wife, but there was nothing we could do but pray. Later that day, Cindy gave birth to a stillborn baby girl named Ira.

A few days later I was asked to do a small memorial for Ira with some family and friends. I walked up a long driveway, not really knowing what to expect. We gathered by a little pond. I opened the Bible and tried to say something coherent. When I left, I wept as I walked to my car. I remember looking to God like, “Really?” I was so confused. They had just started to really seek the Lord and now this! I recall thinking, “Well, I’ll never see them again.”

My way wasn’t God’s way. I thought God messed up, but He didn’t. I have seen God redeem what I thought to be unredeemable. Years later, Mike and Cindy were blessed with a beautiful boy and then twins. We’ve celebrated salvations and baptisms. It all started from that beautiful little girl named Ira. Her name means “watchful.” I guess that’s the message. I was wrong. God was right and He was going to let me watch His redeeming plan unfold.

When I first talked to Russell that day in 2017, I stopped here. I only had three truths to share. As I recall, Russell pointed out that something was missing. He was right. Yes, God is in complete control. Yes, all things exist for God’s glory. And most certainly, God’s ways are not our ways. But these three realities alone leave us with a God who is all-powerful and purposeful, but impersonal. That brings us to the final and most tender truth…

God loves us. That’s right. God loves you. God loves me.

Prayer of confession and belief –

God, your way is not my way. My way leads to destruction, chaos, and pain. From this day forth, when I make plans, I will stamp them all with “Lord willing.” “If the Lord wills, [I] will live and do this or that.” Your way is higher. I trust your way. I submit my plans and my way to your sovereignty, for your glory and my joy. Amen.

For further reading: Genesis 37, 39-50; Psalm 105:16-24; Psalm 107; Jeremiah 29:11