The Only Wise God

Rom 16:25-27

“ Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—  to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

In his final benediction, Paul gives God the glory for all that He has done and for whom He is.

He is the one who establishes us in the faith. While it is our job to sow seeds by preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and His salvation, it is God who is responsible for the results. We often forget that. We think that it is our job to make converts. It is not, it is our job to make disciples and then it is up to God to empower souls to make a decision for Christ. We proclaim, He establishes. He foreknew who would accept Christ and hid the nuggets of the Christ to come and His love for all nations in His covenant with the Hebrew people. It was never meant to be just them; they were supposed to be a light and example of God’s love for all the nations.

Therefore, He used the prophets to point the way to the Messiah and the glory to come. All the signs were there in the Law and the Prophets for all to see. It is just that most of them superimposed their own expectations over the Scriptures to the point to where they were blind to the truth. God hid in plain sight His message of salvation through a suffering servant.

It makes me wonder what truths are hidden from us because we are focused on our own needs and expectations.

Matt 13:13-17

"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. 'But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

We want to empty ourselves of all of our agendas that we might clearly see and hear what the Lord has for us. God alone is wise. Our wisdom is but foolishness compared to Him, and yet we still ask Got to participate and bless our plans instead of coming alongside of Him and His plans.

I always have suggestions for God. I tend to think I’m clever and come up with ways of “helping” God. Who among us hasn’t thought, “If I were God, I would do things this way or that way.” Who among hasn’t doubted the effectiveness of a plan that God has asked us to follow? “You want me to do what…?” is our response to God when He lays out His plan for our lives.

We know that God knows best, but it usually doesn’t sound right at first blush. Fortunately, God is patient and He overcomes our objections and reassures us that as crazy as His plan might sound, it indeed is the best plan. We go along reluctantly and then have the nerve to be surprised when it works out exactly as He planned all along.

What weak and feeble creatures we are.

To God be the glory.