I Am Not Skilled To Understand

Psalms 118:23  "This is the LORD'S doing;  it is marvellous in our eyes."

How easy it is to quote this verse when everything is going our way, when we think that we understand why things are happening.  But it takes great trust and faith in the Lord to be able
to say this when the burden of trial is heavy on our backs, and the way ahead is shrouded in
the fog of uncertainty and the fear of the unknown surrounds us.  The truth of the matter is that whether or not we understand why, everything that the Lord does in our lives is marvellous,
because it is accomplished by the all-knowing, loving, gracious God of the universe, for our
good!  When we take our eyes off of the Lord and look around at the confusing circumstances,
that's when we fail to see that it's God's hand controlling all.

I am not skilled to understand

What God hath willed, what God hath planned;

I only know at His right hand

Stands one who is my Savior.

                  (unknown)

Psalms 145:8 & 9  "The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion:  slow to anger, and of great mercy.  The LORD is good to all:  and His tender mercies are over all His works."

We tend to equate the truth of these verses with understanding God's ways.  His goodness is not
always understood.  We look at goodness as making someone feel good, but true goodness is
doing something that is for that other person's good.  We don't understand God's ways, but we
can rest assured that His goodness is for our good.

Abraham was asked of God to do something that he did not understand.

Genesis 22:1 & 2  "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt (test)
Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham;  and he said, Behold, here I am.  And He said,
Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee unto the land of Moriah;  and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will
tell thee of."

God was asking Abraham to take his only beloved son Isaac and offer him to the Lord as a
sacrifice.  This is something to us, and I suppose to Abraham as well, that didn't make sense. 
Isaac had been the promised miracle child to Abraham and Sarah.  It was through Isaac that
the nation of Israel was to be blest.  Yet, here was God telling Abraham to take Isaac and offer
him up to the Lord.  What would you do if God asked this of you?  Here's what Abraham did,
even though he didn't understand why God was demanding this of him.

Genesis 22:3  "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took
two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt
offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

There is not one mention of Abraham trying to bargain with God to change His mind, of begging
or crying over what God had asked of him.  There is just the wonderful picture of sweet trust and
obedience to God and His will, even though Abraham didn't understand why God was doing this.

Would we have that same sweet trust and submission to God that is shown in Abrahams life?
Or would we whine and complain while doing what God had asked?  Maybe we would just say
no and refuse to obey!  What a blessing we would miss out on.  What a blessing Abraham would
have missed out on if he had chosen to disobey his God.

Genesis 22:6 - 8  "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon
Isaac his son;  and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;  and they went both of them
together.  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father:  and he said,
Here am I, my son.  And he said, Behold the fire and the wood:  but where is the lamb for
a burnt offering?  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt
offering:  so they went both of them together."

I can just picture this in my mind.  Father and son, climbing the mountain, going together to
worship the Lord their God.  Abraham, the father, being obedient to the Lord,  even though his
mind was probably at a loss to understand why he would be offering his only son to God.  And
young Isaac, innocently walking by his side; going with his father to worship God, probably
as they had done together many times in the past.

Genesis 22:9 & 10  "And they came to the place which God had told him of;  and Abraham built an alter there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on
the altar upon the wood.  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay
his son."

Not only was Abraham obedient to God's demand, but his son Isaac was also obedient to God's
command.  Neither understood why, they just in humbleness, submitted and obeyed.

Genesis 22:11 - 13  "And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of Heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham:  and he said, Here am I.  And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the
the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:  for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.  And Abraham lifted up his eyes,
and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns;  and Abraham
went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son."

Both Abraham and Isaac received a blessing that day as a result of the sweet spirit of trust and
surrender to the bidding of their God.  How many times do we miss out on a blessing from God
because we fail to be submissive to His will for our lives?  I doubt that God would ask this of us today, but do we have the mindset, that we would surrender anything to the Lord if He were to
ask it of us?  We will not always understand why the Lord is asking something of us, and it's
none of our business anyway!  Does the Potter have to explain to His clay the reason behind
His requests?

Romans 9:20b & 21a  "Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou
made me thus?  Hath not the potter power over the clay"

God owes us no explanation for what He does, but we owe Him our trust and obedience.  We
can't see the finish line of our earthly race, but our Heavenly Father can.  He knows what we
need at each part of the race in order to run it victoriously for Him.  Just as an athlete has
complete trust and faith in their trainer to guide and train them the way he knows is best, we
need to have trust and faith in our "Heavenly Trainer" to guide and train us the way He knows
best.  We always seem to forget that He has run this course before us, He knows the pitfalls
along the way.  Determine with God's help to trust as Abraham did, there is a blessing at the
end of the test for the submissive and faithful servant.  There is much that I don't understand,
but this one thing I know:

Psalms 126:3  "The LORD hath done great things for us:  whereof we are glad."

I don't know how God hangs the world on nothing,

Or how He keeps the planets each in place.

I cannot count the sands upon the seashore,

Nor can I count the stars that float in space.

 

I don't know how the Lord can save a sinner

Or how His grace can cleanse and set him free.

I can't explain the mystery of Calvary,

To think that Jesus died for even me.

 

I don't know all the meaning of forever,

Or just how long it's been since time began.

I can't explain how Christ Who is eternal,

Could come to earth and die for sinful man.

 

But God can do what seems impossible;

God controls eternity.

My mind can never comprehend it,

But God in Heaven cares for me.

 

                                                            Frank Garlock