Today in my devotional time I was reading in Romans 11, and came to the doxology Paul offers, which is filled with profound theology on the sovereignty of God. Verses 33-36 say,

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

This doxology follows on chapters 9-11 where Paul proclaims that God is over all and unilateral in his decision making in all areas. Contrary to some who complain this is unfair, rather Paul leads us to praise the God above all by worshiping Him for His wisdom, knowledge, righteous judgments, and mind that is beyond comprehending. If things seem unfair to us, we must remember that we have never contributed one thing to God that he was not lightyears ahead of us on. Rather, on a daily basis, “from him and through him and to him are all things.” “Every good and perfect gift comes from above…” James tells us. Most of us would agree that Paul had more reason to complain than we do, yet we see him choosing to submit to and worship the Lord.

The practical implication of this which we’ve been feeling in our lives is that when we don’t see answers to the “Why?” questions, when it seems better to us that we would have returned to Africa as planned in August rather than waiting for several months, instead of doubting and criticizing God, we submit to His plan and continue to worship Him, for His ways are beyond our ways (Is. 55). To be sure, this is not easy, but most good things in life are not easy. And the only way to grow in our faith journey is to entirely embrace God’s sovereign plan. This does not mean we sit and passively wait for things to happen. Far from it! But in our striving for God’s glory and good, we trust Him with the circumstances, with the struggles, with the results, with the paths that our lives take.

“To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Walking with you on the journey, Eric