WHY?
"The
secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which
are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we
may do all the words of this law." - Deuteronomy 29:29
In
last week's blog message, I wrote specifically to hurting people. In the message, I mentioned that there are
reasons for the pain we endure, but often the reasons are withheld from
us. Today, I want us to consider this
issue.
Heartache
and tragedies occur in life. Often we
walk away from such experiences with one question: why? If you have ever
experienced a heartbreaking event, you've probably asked God, why? When we hear of a child dying with cancer,
a family member committing suicide or a storm killing dozens, we are tempted to
ask, why?
If
you've ever been tempted to ask, why, you are in good company. Job asked this same question of God when he
faced numerous personal trials. From
the cross, Jesus asked the Father the question, "My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34, emphasis added).
From our text, God deals with the uncertainty of
life. All the mysteries of life may be
answered from Deuteronomy 29:29. From
this verse, here are a few lessons for us to learn.
1. THERE ARE
SECRET THINGS
Our text says, "The secret things..." The
Bible does not hide the fact that there are mysteries. There are many things
that God chooses to keep to Himself.
Our failure to understand a situation does not change the fact that God
is sovereign. Even if He chooses to
withhold from us the reason for a tragedy or problem, God knows the
reason. God chooses to keep some things
hidden from us for several reasons.
First, since He is sovereign, He is under no obligation to reveal
everything to us. Second, there are
some things that we are not able to understand. Our understanding is finite.
We cannot understand the full scope of matters like God can. Third, there are some matters that we are
not emotionally equipped to deal with.
We are human. We tend to view
things from a human viewpoint. Few
people, if any, are spiritually mature enough to lay aside sentimental feelings
and understand matters from an eternal perspective. Quite honestly, there are many things we will never understand in
this life.
2. THE SECRET
THINGS BELONG TO GOD
Although we don't understand the secret things, God
understands them. Our text states,
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God..." He is in
control...even when it seems that things are out of control. Nothing is hid from His sight. We are not responsible for the hidden things
of life. However, we can trust God with
them. If God can't be trusted with the
hidden things of life, He can't be trusted with the known issues of life. But we know that God CAN be trusted.
3. SOME
THINGS ARE REVEALED TO US
Deuteronomy 29:29 continues to say, "but those
things which are revealed..." God has revealed some things to us through
His Word. Although there are many
things that remain a mystery to us, many things are known. Rather than focusing on the things we don't
understand, we need to focus on the things we do understand.
4. WE ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE THINGS THAT ARE REVEALED
The text continues, "...those things which are
revealed belong unto us and our children forever..." Israel was not
responsible for life's mysteries and we are not either. Like Israel, we ARE responsible for the
things God has revealed to us through His Word.
5. OUR
RESPONSIBILITY IS ENORMOUS
Deuteronomy 29:29 teaches us that the things which
are revealed are made known "... that we may do all
the words of this law." God held
Israel responsible to keep all the words of the law. That was an enormous responsibility. They failed miserably at it, too. Today, many question God when catastrophes occur. Arrogant men think they have the authority
to demand answers from God. They fail
to understand that ultimately, God will demand answers from them. Mankind has deliberately, carelessly and
rebelliously broken God's law. Apart
from redemption in Christ, men will stand guilty before God. Notice the requirement: "...that we may do ALL the words of
this law" (emphasis added). Our
responsibility is enormous. The good
news is that Jesus Christ came and kept the law. Through His shed blood, payment for the broken law has been made
for sinners who will repent and believe.
The real question, why, is not posed at God, but
you. Why do you continue to rebel
against God? Why do you refuse to
repent and believe? Why do you feel
justified in putting God on trial?
There will be a trial one-day, but God will not be the one on
trial. You will be. If you stubbornly and deliberately live
apart from Him, the revealed things will be held as evidence, proving your
guilt before a holy God.
Yes, there are many mysteries in life. I will not apologize on God's behalf. No apologies are necessary. I trust Him with the mysteries of life. In fact, I trust Him with my life. I trust Him with my future. I've entrusted Him with my sinful past and
my unworthy life. He may permit
mysterious things to occur in my life.
Since my life belongs to Him, He owes me no explanations. He'll still deserve my love, adoration and
full devotion. I seek to honor Him by
receiving, believing and obeying Him in the matters I do understand.
In fact, I'm grateful for several mysteries. Why does God love me? I don't know, but I am thankful He does. Why would He save me? I'm not worth saving, but I'm eternally grateful He
did.
You may pose several questions that I cannot
answer. I'm OK with that. If I could explain everything about God and
what He does, that would make me smarter than God --- in fact, it would make me
God. I'm glad I serve a God that I
don't fully understand. I'm glad I
serve a God whose ways are far beyond my understanding.
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