Who was I that I could withstand God?

“If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" - Acts 11v17

I wish I could count the number of time I have looked at my life and wondered if God’s way could possibly the right way. Over and over again my way has seemed better than His way. I remember a couple of specific times in the past when I just could not make sense of what God was doing and actually had the cheek to tell Him about it!

I think Peter might have identified with those feelings. The Jews did not like the Gentiles. Gentiles were filthy, ungodly things with which no proper Jew would do any business. Then Peter had the vision of the animals in the sheet and encountered Cornelius and saw him and other Gentiles get saved. He quickly realised that his ways and God’s ways were not the same.

When he got back to the rest of the church in Jerusalem they were critical of him for having dealings with the Gentiles. He then told them what had happened. At the end he asked a very probing and relevant question, “Who was I that I could withstand God?”

None of us like to think that we would ever withstand God, but what are we doing when God is doing things one way and we want to do them another? What about when we just can’t see in our own minds what God is doing? God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not the same as ours. His are as much higher as the heavens are above the earth.

Indeed, who are you and I to withstand God?