MORE HONORABLE

I like to figure things out. I like to analyze situations in order to find the why behind the what. The question is - is that always possible and does it always honor God? The Lord recently used a situation in my life to teach me the answer to that question. Something I had convinced myself was true turned out not to be and I was left with the same denied desire and the same nagging question, but now intensified - What's going on God? Why? What am I going to do? It seemed there were only two options - descend into melancholy self-pity and indulge in a good cry or try to analyze the situation and figure out what God was doing. As I stood there wondering what to do another option was presented to me by that still, small Voice. Faith. I suddenly pictured Mary and remembered her response to the angel Gabriel's pronouncement - "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." It is more honorable to accept the will of the Lord with utmost faith and trust than to figure it out.

Since that day, only a couple weeks ago, I've been thinking more about people in the Bible who exemplified the faith of Mary and, on the contrary, people who tried to figure things out. The first place I went was the book of Job. Job started out with courageous faith - "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord," and was praised for it. But his friends were the ones trying to analyze the situation. They were not praised (see Job 42). Then I thought of Abraham and the others who are praised for their faith in Hebrews 11. Abraham offered up Isaac without trying to figure out why. Joseph didn't try to figure out what God was doing when he was sold into slavery in Egypt. He trusted God. Joshua and the Israelites marched around Jericho as God had instructed without trying to analyze the situation first. There are many others. Reflecting on these examples makes me ashamed for my lack of faith. The truth is that I'd rather figure everything out and have everything neatly categorized than simply trust and believe. This is a good lesson and one that I need to continue studying because at the heart of this lesson are some similar questions - "Do I really believe in the unconditional love and acceptance of God? Do I really trust Him? Do I trust Him enough to surrender control and my supposed right to know what He's doing?"