Unsearchable Ways

"Oh, the depths of the riches and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that He may be repaid? 
From Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be Glory forever. Amen." --[Romans 11: 33-36.]


This passage is not just a Verse from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, it is also considered a Doxology. The word doxa in Greek means praise. The suffix-logia means verbal or written expression. [Source: Merriam-webster.com].

In Praise of God. How often do we hear that these days? In this so-called "Post-Christian" era, how often do we dare to utter a praise of God, out in public? We are chastised to, "Keep your religion to yourself".

And yet, for Christians, ALL things come FROM Him, THROUGH Him, and FOR Him. That is, "He is the Source of all things, including ourselves." -[NIV Bible, footnote 11:36].

How utterly humbling is this!

 And so, the notion that a human being would spend his life accumulating more and more and more is patently absurd in the Biblical sense.

I once knew a man who had a wife, two sons, five cars, four homes, two dogs and a yacht. I confided this to a church friend, who said to me --"Is he happy yet?" I had to shoot this friend a "meaningful stare."  My reply to him: "No. He is miserable."

And in fact, this consumerist man told me not long ago, that he had reached his ultimate goal in Life-- a 50' boat. EXCEPT, when he docked his huge yacht in a slip at his summer place, right next to him was a guy with a yacht much bigger.

I told this man, "Ah, but there will ALWAYS be a man with a bigger boat."

Romans 11: 33-36 instructs us that everything comes from God and needs to be FOR God; nothing else matters. Do all the riches in the world impress God? No, not compared to the depths of the riches and knowledge of God.

Romans 11:33-36 is sobering because it reminds us that we can never be smarter than God, can never criticize God ("who has been His counselor?"), can never give God anything that will measure up to who He is, or what He has given us.

And so, the notion that a human being would spend her life trying to accumulate the most "Likes" or Friends on Social Media is patently absurd in the Biblical sense.

God doesn't care about the approval of the earthly World. The only approval we require as human beings is being Right with God.

Romans 11: 33-36 teaches us, "How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable are His ways." --And, we DARE to judge others and think we know more than anyone?

Do we unerringly see right through to the Eternal Truth in other human beings? A person who appears cold and  disengaged may not be a snob like you think; she may be depressed. A person who walks right past you may not be unfriendly; she may be hard of hearing.

Romans 11:33-36 reminds us of the harrowing Truth that God did not have to bring us into this World, and He does not have to keep us here, either. For, God is "the Source of all things, including ourselves."

This ought to make us live each day as if each day were our last here on Earth. No, this is not some saccharine wall plaque, about dancing in the rain and allowing ourselves our mistakes and living with no regrets.

We need to ask ourselves what makes us get up each day, get dressed and eat breakfast, and get about our day. What DOES get you out of bed in the morning?

IF our motivation is to make millions and congratulate ourselves for our success, thereby forgetting Who is in charge, then, in a Christian sense, we are very wrong.

IF our motivation is to assume that by being materially successful, then we have the right to judge others, or instruct others how to live, because somehow we have to formula for Life, then we are way off base.

This Scripture says that we are NOT in charge, no matter how successful we may be in an earthly sense. This Scripture says, No, we do NOT know more than God, just because things are going right for us, most of the time. That attitude is self-worship -- and it is dangerous.

IF I am nothing without God, IF everything I have comes from God, IF everything I do is FOR Him, then what motivates me each day is to give all I have to God-- because He has given me all that He has!

[Related Posting: "Prayer for Wisdom", 7/23/11; " Mysterious Wisdom", 2/12/17; "The Inexpressible Spirit", 7/24/17].

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