September 21, 2024 Devo

I came to a conclusion some time ago. It wasn’t an easy one to reach. In fact, everything in me tried to push back against believing it. My intuition said that it was wrong. My brain kept telling me it was wrong. But mostly, my pride kept telling me it was wrong. The conclusion? There are other people a lot smarter than me. And yes, my wife considers herself one of those “other people!”
Anybody else ever have a hard time admitting this? The bigger problem was not just believing that my way is the RIGHT way, or that my decision is the BEST decision when it comes to other people. If I’m honest, at times I’ve even believed that I’m smarter than God. At least, that’s the way I’ve prayed and acted. Instead of praying and leaving things in God’s Hands, as soon as the prayer is over, I find ways of taking them back. Instead of praying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” I get on my knees and tell God how to run His Universe. And instead of accepting and resting in the sovereignty of God and trusting His “yes” or “no” in life and situations, I find myself second-guessing Him as to what He SHOULD have done. Yeah, pretty arrogant, huh?
That’s what I thought about when I read our passage today. When I read how some people saw His weeping as an expression of love for Lazarus I was touched. But then when I read how others started second-guessing Jesus and how He should have healed Lazarus like He did the blind man, it ticked me off. “They have no idea what Jesus is about to do!” I thought to myself. Then it hit me. Neither do I. All those times I take things back from Him, ask for my will instead of His, and second-guess His divine sovereignty, I’m declaring I’m smarter than God. And clearly, I am not.
So take it from an arrogant soul who is trying to learn how to let God be God and stop trying to do it for Him. You can trust God. He is as GOOD as He is powerful. You can trust His purposes and reasons. You won’t always understand them, and sometimes you never will. But He does have His purposes and reasons. When God acts, accept it. You may wish it would be different. You might even think what God did isn’t fair. But like Jesus with Lazarus, sometimes God’s final answer is a lot more amazing than you could imagine. And stop second-guessing God. For all of your wisdom that you have acquired, you’re really not smarter than God. In fact, there are MANY people smarter than you. Just ask my wife. She’ll tell you thats she’s one of them! That’s God’s Word for you today.