There will always be things about God that I don’t understand. Things I can’t explain.

Right now, in my life, in the lives of those I know and love, there are hard things happening that just don’t make sense to me.

I can’t write the devotional and tell you just how God is bringing beauty from some of the ashes I see. Not yet, anyways.

In 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, Paul is trying to help the Corinthians understand that God does what He pleases, and that we don’t have to understand or explain Him to keep believing Him.

Some of the Corinthians were stuck because they couldn’t understand how God could possibly raise the dead.

Some of us get stuck too when it seems impossible for God to bring something good from the hard, sad, things we see.

If we are honest, we all sometimes expect God to do things just like we expect and in ways we can readily explain.

We often treat Him like our vending machine. We send up a prayer and give Him what we consider a reasonable time to answer and in a way we would choose.

When we don’t understand, when we don’t like the answer, we often get stuck: How could God let THAT happen?

Why would I lose that baby? Why would she get cancer? Why would he leave me? Why would I have those parents? Why would my business fail? Why would….

In our questioning, in those moments where we just can’t see how God could possibly bring something good from something we don’t understand, some of us are tempted to walk away.

BUT do we have to be able to explain God in order to follow Him? In order to trust Him?

And would you really find a god who does everything just as you would expect to be God at all?

As a seed is buried in ground and miraculously becomes a fruit-bearing plant, we must learn to bury our expectations for how and when God should act, and, instead trust Him to bring fruit in His time. (see v 37-38)

It isn’t easy. It’s far from easy; but as we daily, over and over, surrender our expectations for how things should go, as we lay down our need to always understand and explain what God is doing and, instead, simply follow Him in faith, we will reap a bountiful harvest of peace.

God alone is good. He sees things we can’t. He is all powerful. He does the impossible. He brings beauty from ashes. He works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.(Rom 8:28)

Oh friend, let’s keep loving and trusting God even when we don’t understand. Lets encourage each other. Let’s rest in the fact that He is God and we are not. Let’s take one day at a time and trust Him to use even the hardest things in our lives for our good and His glory.

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