We don’t know

"Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered. For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist, Which the clouds drop down And pour abundantly on man. Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, The thunder from His canopy? – Job 36v26-29

Elihu does a great job here of condensing a couple of basic truth that really can give us a proper perspective.

Unfortunately, I am the kind of person who really wants to know everything that is going on all around me. I do not like being left out of the loop. Not only do I want to know what is going on, I also want to know why what is going on is going on. If things are not going smoothly I am pretty sure that, given the opportunity, I could sort things out. Just put me in charge of the world economy. I am pretty sure that I could fix it!

It’s one thing to have that attitude when talking about human circumstances. It is quite another when we think that we could do a better job than God.

God is great and we cannot hope to know what He is doing. As high as the heavens are above the earth so are God’s thought than our thoughts. Elihu sets off here on a whole list of things that take place that we cannot figure out. We can’t figure out how to make rain for example. We may figure out how to adapt the right circumstances to make it rain, but we certainly can’t create it.

That being the case what makes us think that we can figure out what God is doing in our lives?

God is great. We are not.

How can ungreat beings every hope to out think a great God?

God is great. Because of His greatness sometimes we are not going to be able to figure Him out.

Isn’t that what faith is all about?