Things AboveSample

HOW TO ENJOY GOD WHEN I DON'T UNDERSTAND

There are so many moments in life when we just do not understand what God is doing, or why he is doing it. It is really common to get discouraged in these moments of ambiguity, and our enjoyment of God can diminish because we are frustrated with him. So how can we enjoy God when we don’t understand him?

The first thing we need to realise is that the Father does want us to understand him! Just because you don’t understand him now, doesn’t mean you cannot come to a deeper understanding of who He is.

In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul prays that the Father would give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to the church through the eyes of their hearts being opened so that they would know their hope in Christ. This means that understanding God primarily happens in our hearts before knowledge in our minds. What this means is that you can understand who God is without understanding what he is doing! Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us that God’s ways are not our ways. Our comfort and joy, therefore, need to come not from our understanding of what God is doing, but who God is. Because even though it is difficult for us to wrap our heads around how God operates, He has made it easy for us to wrap our hearts around who he is. For we are like him and he is like us, for we are made in his image and likeness. His character is revealed perfectly in the person of Jesus, who the Bible says is the same yesterday and today and forever. As we mature, our heads catch up with our hearts as we begin to understand the ways of the Father more and more. So how do you enjoy God even when you don’t understand? Press deeper into who he is as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, and you will find your heart strangely comforted as you recognise you can trust what He is doing, because of who you know him to be. This is the essence of a Father/Child relationship.

Don’t forget that this devotional is designed to be paired with the podcast series ‘things above’ of the Generation Podcast. So have a listen to episode 4 of the podcast for a deeper discussion on how to enjoy God when I don’t feel understand.