I’m a dude so there are a lot of things I don’t really understand.
I don’t understand why it’s romantic for a 100-year-old vampire to fall in love with a high school girl.
I don’t understand why a bunch of teenagers from different districts trying to kill each other appeals to women.
I don’t understand Channing Tatum
I also don’t understand Pinterest. I’ve seen my wife and friends on Pinterest. I’ve seen updates on Facebook about my friends pinning something to something. My wife has made delicious recipes that she has found on Pinterest.
I’ve benefitted from Pinterest but I don’t understand it.
I think Pinterest is like God in that way.
There are a lot of things I don’t understand about God but I’ve definitely benefitted from having him in my life. However, there are things that God does in this world that I just don’t understand.
I don’t understand why bad things happen to good people.
I don’t understand how giving money to God means I have more.
I don’t understand Channing Tatum.
With God, though, even though we don’t understand him we’re still called to follow him. Even though we may be confused by what he allows we’re still called to have faith.
I don’t understand Pinterest but I don’t have to join it and they might not let me. If I did want to understand Pinterest better, though, I would just have to spend more time on the site interacting with it.
The same goes with God. We’ll never fully understand God because, like Isaiah wrote, his ways are far above our ways. However, the more time we spend with God and interacting with him, the better we’ll understand him. We may still question why some things happen in this world but we’ll have an easier time trusting what he’s doing.
And I still don’t understand Channing Tatum.
How do you keep your faith in God even when you don’t understand what he’s doing?
“I don’t understand why a bunch of teenagers from different districts trying to kill each other appeals to women.” – I don’t necessarily get that aspect, either – though I suspect it has more to do with the romantic plot than the main plot – but I will say “The Hugner Games” has appeal across gender lines. I’ve only read the first two books (and, truth be told, liked the first more than the second), but it’s a well-written, fast-paced action series with colorful characters and larger social messages that are worth considering, especially from a Gospel p.o.v. “The poor are always with you,” said Jesus. Are we treating them as we would treat him, for they are the least of his brothers and sisters, or are we enjoying easy living on their backs, as in Panem?
But that’s a digression. You wrote another good post and asked another good question. I don’t have any easy answers, but I tend to take solace in times like that in thinking that God has made clear all we need to know, even though it’s not all we’d want to know. Staying focused on Jesus as God’s fullest self-expression gets me through those times.
That’s a fantastic point about God giving us what we need to know even if we want to know much more.