Truly my soul silently waits for God; from him comes my salvation. … He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psalm 62:1:6.
In July 1660 John Bunyan, an English tinker, but also an author and preacher, was cast into prison for preaching the good news of Christ. One of his fellow believers expressed his dismay to Bunyan’s wife that her husband, a respectable citizen, should be imprisoned, when so many good-for-nothings were at liberty. This was inconceivable for him.
“You find it inconceivable?” answered that godly woman. “It is no problem for me. When you set one of your employees a task, do you explain to him what your purpose is in doing so? Surely not. You expect him to do what you have told him. He will think you have your reason for it, but he will not know it. So hasn’t our Lord the right to keep His reasons to Himself? And, in any case, could we understand them, if we knew them?”
God certainly does not wish to leave His children in ignorance. He shares His thoughts with them. But His wish is that we get a better acquaintance of Him Himself. And whoever knows Him will understand His dealings at the right time. God is infinitely wise, and He loves us. So we can yield ourselves to His ways, fully trusting Him.
How often do we wonder why God has allowed certain troubles or inconveniences in our lives and succumb to the temptation of expecting Him to account for them That is indeed distrust and unbelief!
Image: By Attributed to Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano – The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN, UK [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10662424