A Humbling Thought

This is a quote that I found and the link above will take you to the site where I found it online. I actually read it in the latest newsletter from Voice of the Martyrs. The content is slightly different and may have been edited for the newsletter, but the story is the same. The sovereignty of God can be a fearful thing if we forget the 'mad love' at the center of it all. We must also remember that at the center of sove-reign-ty there lies reign.

The Unreasonableness of God

By Pastor Richard Wurmbrand

Taken from an excerpt of his book"The Oracles of God"

I shared and viewed the sufferings of many fellow prisoners in an underground Communist prison. What intrigued us the most was that we did not obtain from heaven what it was obviously reasonable to us to expect: a slight improvement in our situation, food to quiet our hunger, and abatement of our cruel torture. We did not get what we expected because heaven is not - humanly speaking - reasonable.

Jesus said, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7)". This is surely not reasonable (from a human standpoint).

Nowhere does the Bible speak about the "reasonableness" of God, according to man's reasoning. Was it reasonable to sacrifice the unique Son of God for witless, dirty, dumb sheep? I have asked many shepherds what they would do if they saw a wolf. They all replied, "We would run for our lives". No man dies for sheep (at least not a "reasonable" one). Yet the Lord Jesus Christ did. He died for beings much worse than sheep - for those who denied and betrayed Him, for those who demanded His crucifixion. He died for His killers and prayed that the Father forgive them. Would you say that Jesus' actions were "reasonable"?

Do not be surprised if you fail to get from God what you might reasonably expect. If He were truly "reasonable", He would never listen to the prayers of sinners like us who continue to disobey Him time and time again. If God were truly "reasonable" we wouldn't even have salvation. Rather, our God listens, loves and forgives far beyond the point of folly and "reason".

If you feel that you are in the sad situation of not being able to understand His reason, nor feel His mad love, just remember that following Christ is not about logic or reason or some great feeling that you are hoping to experience - IT'S ABOUT FAITH! Those who are faithful will continue to press forward even when God doesn't make any sense to them and even when it feels as if He is not with them. Those who are faithful will stand strong in their belief of the teaching of Hebrews 13:5: "I will never leave you nor forsake you".

When in solitary confinement, I waited for years for God to come to my aid. In solitary we were happy about His mad love even in moments when we did not "feel" it.

Do not count on "reasonableness" from heaven and you will never be disappointed. Do not expect God to operate according to your limited and sinful ways of thinking and you will never be upset with Him for not answering your prayers in the way that you want them answered. Count only on the fact that He loves you to such folly that He condescended to leave His throne and come down into a sin cursed world to die for you. Forget about sweet "reason" and continue to follow Him no matter what your circumstances may be. For as faithful Job once said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him".