Commentary: What is God saying?

I hear a fair amount of chatter online and in social media about what God is up to, especially these days.  

Sometimes, half jokingly, I wish that God would get a Facebook account so that God Himself can tell us what is going on, rather than His people trying to work out what is going on. And it seems like every go around, whether an earthquake, tidal wave, natural disaster or virus there is always someone who will tell you they know why it occured and what God is up to. 

Some in social media are saying these days that God has allowed the coronavirus to call people back to Him. They say this virus is meant to bring us to the end of ourselves and lean into His divine provision. Others are saying that the coronavirus is some sort of judgement on the condition of humankind, and that what we are enduring, and will endure is punishment for our actions apart from God. 

Now I am not going to say they are wrong, and I am certainly not going to say they are right. What I do question is why they are saying it at all. 

What I know, friends, is what I don’t know. That either may be true, independant of one another or simultaniously, or that both of those statements may be false. As I said, what I know, is that I don’t know. 

A third option, and by the way Jesus was quite fond of third options, is that the coronovirus is a part of the condition of the world in which we live in. That we have made flawed choices that have endangered not only ourselves, but others. Sort of like balking at washing our hands in a time when clearly a simple act could have great consequences for others. 

The whole conversation is interesting to a point, but as I sip my morning coffee, it all seems so strange to me since in the Bible, within the Old and New  Testaments, it clearly says that we cannot know God’s thoughts. 

Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” There is something about God that is unknowable and can’t be understood by us. That is a Biblical fact. 

Romans 11:34 confirms this in saying, “Who has known the mind of the LORD ? Or who has been his counselor?” That would be none of us. We seek His counsel, not vice versa. In addition, 1 Corinthians 2:11 says, “No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.” 

Paul, the writer of both Romans and 1 Corinthians, tells us frankly in the Book of Ephesians that God and His acticity is a mystery. For some that is very frustrating because we feel a need to know exactly what He is up to. For others it is a breath of fresh air because it allows us to admit that there is quite a bit about God that is okay to admit we don’t understand. I mean if Paul can admit that, can’t we?

And yet, as I look on social media there we are, doing quite a bit of thinking for God rather than about God. Quite a bit of people who know more than Paul and in some cases, even God. 

I mean, I understand. It is tempting to believe that we can understand how God’s mind works. We are created in His image. Surely that must mean God thinks like we do. Yet, how can a natural thing, you and I, understand the thoughts of the supernatural? How can created things think like the Creator? They cannot, but that certainly does not stop them from trying, does it? 

As human beings we are limited in our understanding of God, because we are in a specific point in time. All you and I can really know is what we experience, and the problem is that God is not simply defined by our individual experiences.

No, God, is infinite, outside of time, and in a way unknowable. He sees the beginning and the end, while we only see a small slice of the middle. And so, when we assign our very human motivations to God’s actions we can at best develop wrong beliefs about who he is, and at worst cause incredible amounts of hurt to the very people we are trying to share Him with. 

We have to admit that in even the best of us, our frustration of not understanding God can lead us to places of wrong thinking about God. And it is a dangerous thing to try to think for God rather than about God. 

Peter was stearnly rebuked by Jesus (He called him “Satan”) in Matthew 16:24 for trying to think for God rather than about God when he said to him, “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

1 Chronicles 22:19 says “Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.” What helps us to stop thinking for God and instead about God is prayer. Prayer admits that I don’t know, that there is a huge part of this whole thing is a great mystery, and instead of trying to think for God we want to seek God in prayer. 

I feel what we need now is more prayer, and less pontification. 

Everyday The Open Room in Mahomet is hosting a prayer gathering at 5:00pm specifically to pray for our community, state, nation and world in the middle of this crisis.

Every day my church, the Community Evangelical Free Church has the prayer room open from 12:00-5:00pm where you can come sign-up to pray for 45 minutes at a time. In between those sessions we have someone there to disinfect the room to ensure your comfort and safety. 

A group of local Pastors are meeting at the Open Room to pray daily at 8:00am. 

And in every place you alone and gathered with friends, can pause and reach out to talk with God. It doesn’t mean that He will, as John Lennon was fond of saying “give you the secret,” but the Bible does promise that as you pray He will offer you His peace. 

I don’t know about you, but I think rather than trying to know His thoughts, what we really need now is His peace. Right?