God Knows How to Work

Reflection

I have regular tasks that I could probably do with my eyes closed. They have become so familiar to me that I don't have to give much thought to what I am doing. There isn't much guessing involved, and I usually know exactly what comes next. But then there are other things that aren't so easy because I have never done them before, and I have to stop, think, figure things out, and sometimes try again.

God isn't learning as He goes—His counsel is wonderful and His work is excellent.

I like to do crafts, and whenever I learn something new, there is usually a period when I have to figure out how everything works. Knitting is a good example. You have to learn how to hold everything, how tightly to work the stitches, and how to keep them from becoming too loose or too tight. At first, I may have to stop and look at what I am doing because I don't yet have the experience to know what comes naturally to someone who has done it for years. Eventually, with practice, it becomes easier, but there was a time when I had to learn.

And I know what you may be thinking. What does this have to do with Isaiah 28?

Well, while reading the end of Isaiah 28, I began to think about something that is very different about God and us. We have to learn how to do things. We have to gain experience, make adjustments, correct our mistakes, and sometimes figure out what works best. God doesn't have to learn how to handle His creation. He doesn't have to experiment to find the right way to accomplish what He wants to accomplish. His wisdom is already perfect.

The verses leading up to this one give us a picture of a farmer working with different kinds of crops. The farmer knows that every seed and every crop does not require exactly the same treatment. He knows what to sow, where to sow it, and how to process the harvest. He doesn't simply treat everything in exactly the same way because he understands what each one requires.

Isaiah gives examples of different grains and different methods of threshing. Some are handled one way, while others are handled another way. The farmer knows that he cannot use the same method for everything and expect the same result. There is knowledge behind his work, and there is a purpose behind the way he handles each crop.

Then Isaiah brings us to this beautiful conclusion: "This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working."

The wisdom of the farmer points us toward the wisdom of God.

Trusting God's Purpose

That made me stop and think about how often I question the way God is working in my own life. Sometimes I look at something difficult and wonder why God would allow it to happen this way. I may look at someone else's life and think their circumstances seem so different from mine. I may wonder why God appears to be taking one person through something gently while another person seems to be going through something much harder.

But what if part of what I am seeing is simply that God knows what He is doing?

The farmer doesn't treat every crop exactly the same because every crop isn't exactly the same. He knows what each one requires, and he works according to that knowledge. How much more does God, who created us and knows us completely, understand what is needed in our lives?

That doesn't mean every hardship is something God directly caused, nor does it mean we should call every painful circumstance God's chosen method for us. We live in a fallen world, and suffering is part of that reality. But even in a world affected by sin, God has not lost His wisdom. Nothing has caused Him to suddenly become uncertain about what He should do.

He isn't learning as He goes.

He isn't standing over our lives wondering, "I wonder what will work here?"

God is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.

The Farmer Knows His Crop

That is comforting because I know I am not always wise enough to understand what God is doing. There are times when I can look at my circumstances and see only the difficulty in front of me. I don't know what He is producing through it, what He may be protecting me from, or what He may be preparing me for. I only know what I can see right now.

And what I can see is never the whole picture.

A farmer can look at a field and know things about his crop that someone walking past it would never understand. He knows what he planted, what the soil requires, when it needs attention, and how the harvest should be handled. The person passing by may only see dirt, plants, or a field that doesn't seem to be producing very much.

But the farmer knows.

God knows even more.

Sometimes I think we want God to explain every detail before we are willing to trust Him. We want to understand why He is allowing something, where He is taking us, and what the outcome will be. But faith often requires us to trust God's wisdom when we cannot yet see what He is doing.

That doesn't mean we stop asking questions or bringing our concerns to Him. Scripture is filled with people who cried out to God when they didn't understand what was happening. We can do that too. We can tell Him when we are confused, hurting, afraid, or simply tired of waiting.

But after we bring those things to Him, we can remember who He is.

God knows how to work.

He doesn't need to learn how to care for His children. He doesn't need to improve His methods through trial and error. He doesn't make adjustments because His first attempt failed. His counsel is wonderful, and His work is excellent.

Sometimes His methods may be difficult for us to understand. Sometimes the process may take longer than we would choose. Sometimes we may wonder why He seems to be handling our lives differently from someone else's. But we can rest in the fact that God is not careless with what He has created.

He knows exactly what He is doing.

And unlike me when I am learning a new craft, God doesn't have to stop and look at the instructions to figure out what comes next.

You may have to learn as you go—
God does not.

Before You Go

Perhaps there is something happening in your life right now that simply doesn't make sense to you. You may be looking at a circumstance and wondering why God hasn't handled it differently. Maybe you have prayed about it, waited for an answer, and still don't understand what He is doing. Those moments can be difficult because we naturally want to know the reason behind everything. We want to see the finished picture before we are willing to trust the One holding the brush.

But Isaiah reminds us that God's wisdom is beyond ours. The farmer knows how to work with every crop, and he knows that each one requires something different. He doesn't treat every seed exactly the same because he understands what he is working with. In the same way, God knows us completely. He knows our weaknesses, our strengths, our circumstances, our needs, and the things that we cannot see about ourselves. He knows what we need far better than we do.

So when you don't understand the way God is working, don't assume that He doesn't understand either. Your inability to see the reason does not mean there isn't one. Your inability to understand the process does not mean God has lost control of it. There is a great difference between not knowing what God is doing and God not knowing what He is doing.

Trusting the Master Hand

And we have an even greater reason to trust Him because we have seen His wisdom and love revealed through Jesus Christ. God did not leave us to find our own way back to Him. Before we could ever make ourselves righteous, Christ came and gave Himself for us. What may have looked like defeat at the cross was actually part of God's redemptive plan, and three days later Jesus rose from the grave.

That reminds us that God's work does not always look the way we expect while we are standing in the middle of it.

The cross looked like an ending, but God was accomplishing redemption.

The tomb looked like defeat, but God was bringing resurrection.

And sometimes the difficult place you are standing in today may not look like anything good is coming from it. That doesn't mean God has stopped working. It simply means you cannot yet see what He sees.

You don't have to understand everything before you trust Him. You can bring your questions to Him, bring your fears to Him, and even tell Him that you don't understand what He is doing. But while you are doing that, remember what Isaiah tells us about the Lord: His counsel is wonderful, and His working is excellent.

You may have to learn as you go.

God does not.

And that is one more reason we can place our lives in His hands.