Romans 11
Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be his counselor? – Vs 33-34 NLT
Chapter 11 is one of those chapters you read, then re-read and then scratch your head and wonder what Paul is really saying. It is deep and difficult to completely understand what he means. There are as many opinions as there are commentaries. But even Paul seems to reach a point where he simply has to put down his pen and kneel before the throne of God. The closing verses of this chapter seem to be Paul's acknowledgment that His God is greater than his capacity to understand Him or figure Him out. He says, "How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods!" We can sit and debate and argue over all that Paul has said regarding the future of the Jewish people, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that, or we can acknowledge that there is so much we don't know and may never know until the Lord returns. And there is so much of God and His ways that we will never be able to understand and figure out with our finite minds. Isaiah said it this way: "No one can measure the depths of his understanding" (Isaiah 40:28). His decisions are unsearchable. His methods of doing things are undiscoverable and mysterious. We so desperately want to box Him in and figure Him out, but He is the infinite God of the universe.
In the book of Job we read these words: "Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything there is to know about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens––but who are you? It is deeper than the underworld ––what can you know in comparison to him? It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea" (Job 11:7-9). Our God is a great and awesome God. He is beyond our ability to understand. Anything we know of Him, He must reveal to us. The Bible is His revelation of Himself to us. In it we can discover His character, His will, and get a glimpse of His ways. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God within us. Without Him we would be unable to understand anything about God or His ways. But even with all that, we will still never be able to figure God out. Like the universe He created, He is without end and seemingly limitless. So what should our response be to the greatness of our God? Paul sums it up in the last verse of this chapter. Listen to how The Message paraphrases it:
Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.
Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.
Father, I praise You this morning for your greatness. You are beyond my ability to understand. Yet You have chosen to reveal Yourself to me. I can't even begin to understand Your ways and yet You have shown me Your truth time and time again through Your Word. Forgive me when I think I have all the answers or have You figured out. How arrogant. Who am I to try and solve the mysteries of God or to try and discover all there is to know about You and Your ways. Let me rest in the simple knowledge that You are exceedingly great and incredibly good. Amen