Beyond Understanding

I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. . . . I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding. (Dan. 8:27)

Daniel's often celebrated wisdom and insight as a man full of God's Spirit did not give him perfect understanding of God's will. Even this outstanding man of God wrestled with deep questions and periods of confusion and even depression. God's ways and plans are in many cases "beyond understanding." Things that he allows to happen may be "appalling" to our sensibilities. But these are questions that arise out of faith, not unbelief. God reserves the exclusive right to all knowledge and understanding.

I have to admit that I once thought I had God and his will all figured out. Nice, neat answers. Everything cut and dried. No mysteries. Then God humbled me. I will trust him with all that I don't understand. And I will be real with him when I am torn up with confusion about the way life unfolds.

And yet I will remember that you, Lord, are God alone, and I am not. Amen.