Acquainted with All Our Ways

For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes.
Proverbs 5:21

In the mystery of God’s will we sometimes come to a place where we cannot explain why things turned out as they did; yet, amazingly, we are still right in the middle of His will. It’s not that you or I created a problem; it’s that God is in the process of surprising His people on a regular basis. The Scriptures are full of stories like this.

Now before we go any further, let me answer the skeptic who is thinking, Well, maybe God isn’t really involved in all these “surprises” at all. This is just life happening, running its random course. Maybe God just operates from a distance. He’s a big-picture God. He’s sort of involved in the nations and the international scene and wars and those kinds of things. But when it comes to daily living, He’s not really that connected.

Oh, no. The Bible includes numerous statements that refute that idea. Here are only two of them:

For he looks to the ends of the earth;
He sees everything under the heavens. (Job 28:24 NASB)

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:3 NASB)

Doesn’t sound to me like a distant deity. He is exacting in His knowledge. He is sovereign over all the events of our lives. Not one detail escapes His attention. The very hairs of our head are numbered. He knows everything about us. We are an open book before Him. Furthermore, He is immutably faithful. And yet He deliberately surprises us with difficult assignments, premature or unexpected deaths, lost jobs, and disappointing circumstances along the journey, even while we’re in the nucleus of His will. Let’s face it, it’s a mystery.