God Is Reasonable

One of a series on "The Endearing Personality of God"


When I say that God is reasonable, that doesn't mean I can subject Him to examination and figure Him out. He is far, far beyond that! I have learned in practice the reality of " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' " (Isaiah 55:8, 9) We cannot fit all of God into our tiny little frame of reference.

The story of Job shows us, though, that God is reasonable in that He can be reasoned with; things can be discussed with Him, arguments weighed, and conclusions reached. Notably, Moses and Abraham reasoned with God and He gave consideration to their pleas. This doesn't mean we always get the answer we would like. Job did not. He stormed at God, demanding to know why he was suffering such loss—his riches, his family, his friends, his health. And God did discuss the matter with Job, although the conclusion they came to was not exactly what Job was expecting. It was along the line of: "I am God! And just who do you think you are? What do you really know about anything?"

God is always working for the good of those who love Him. (See Romans 8:28) Many of our problems lie in not knowing what will be, in the end, best for us. We may say, "Well, God had a reason." Yes, perhaps that is true. He may have had a reason, and we were not given that understanding. Or often, just because we live in a broken world, bad and "senseless" things happen to good people. Contrariwise, because our world sometimes operates in an inverted fashion, good things happen to bad people! There may be no other reason.

When we come to those baffling times, we can trust God's goodness. He is just. He is also merciful. If we actually need to know the reason, God will give it—maybe now, maybe later. Because He is reasonable.

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/