His ways are discoverable

The work of God in our lives is sometimes misunderstood, isn't it? We don't actually 'get' why some things happen, like the present pandemic. Why is it the world is set into absolute chaos, economies hit so hard, and people left jobless all as the result of one tiny virus? In this day and age, you'd almost expect the CDC and  WHO would have found a way to put a bubble around the virus and eradicate it as quickly as it emerged. The advances in medical science have come to be 'counted on' in times of extreme crisis as we are seeing now, haven't they? The work of God in our lives is sometimes as easily misunderstood as our knowledge of medical science is at times. We don't fully appreciate the extremely difficult job it is to eradicate a virus and we understand even less of how God moves or works in our live at times!

You can no more predict the path of the wind than you can explain how a child’s bones are formed in a mother’s womb. Even more, you will never understand the workings of the God who made all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:5)

You've heard it said that God moves in mysterious ways, but I would have to add that he moves in 'discoverable' ways, even though they seem to be a little bit of a mystery at first. The more we get closer to him, the easier it becomes to appreciate how he moves. We may not understand all the things behind each movement he makes, but we begin to sense his moving and we begin to move with him. When I was pregnant the first time, I read every book I could get my hands on to figure out what was going on inside of me with that tiny fetus under development. Although I read about how the nerve pathways are growing and being connected one right after another, all occurring between this week and that week of gestation, I still cannot fathom how one cell divides into two and two into four and so on. It is a concept I can appreciate, but can I honestly say I understand how it happens? Nope! I don't have the power of creation, so I don't really know how God does that!

I understand that a virus can mutate, divide, and even replicate at break-neck speeds, but do I understand how it came to emerge right now, in this virulent form? Nope. Do I have to understand it to appreciate it has some pretty awful potential in that one tiny virus 'body'? Nope. What I do have to understand is that God has people in key spots working diligently to understand it way better than I ever will and who are working overtime to 'break the code' so to speak on how to get this pandemic under control. What does God require of us if we aren't required to fully understand these things that are just 'bigger' than our ability to fully comprehend? I think it might just be he requires us to rest in him, lean upon his understanding of the matter, and then rely upon him to work all things out according to his knowledge, not ours.

We sometimes get stuck in the place of having to 'understand' in order to allow change, adopt a particular practice, or avoid something altogether. Understanding takes on different forms, but the most basic form of understanding God asks of us is to trust the one who we don't fully understand, but who we know loves us more than anything on this earth. God isn't limited by our understanding - but he is limited by our lack of trust. When we choose to not trust him because we don't understand how he is moving, we are putting up roadblocks to his movement in our lives. This isn't something we want to engage in very often (if ever), though. We want to allow God free access - to move in our lives as he sees fit and as he knows will best serve our lives. It is hard to trust when we don't see or fully appreciate, but if we always saw or fully understood a matter, would there be much basis for trust? Just askin!