Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?"
35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
There is no one wiser than God. Whatever God does, it is His wisest move.
• Think of the situation you are in right now, all that is happening. And then tell yourself, those are God’s wisest moves in your life.
• If He is all-wise, then whatever happens must have taken place because it is with the best possible means, done in the best possible way (that God knows how), to produce the best possible result in my life.
• If there is a better option, a kinder way, a more effective solution, then God would have used it.
So whatever happens in my life is God’s wisest move.
• A. W. Tozer: “Wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision.”
• God cannot miss anything. He is always on track to accomplish His plan.
• Not only could God’s actions not be better done, a better way to do them could be imagined. An infinitely wise God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures.
• The passage says: “Who has been His counsellor?” (Rom 11:34)
Pastor Chip Ingram gave an interesting illustration. A man works as a train operator, controlling the train traffic by switching tracks. One day a young boy came playing on the tracks. To the man’s horror the boy tripped and got his foot caught in the track, while an oncoming train was speeding down. He cannot reach the boy in time, and he cannot stop the train in time.
To shift the tracks and derail the train would likely kill many people on board while saving the boy. To leave it would mean the sacrifice of one life for the many on board. What would be the wisest choice?
The honest answer is: We just don’t know. What if the son was the next Billy Graham? What if the accident killed 50 people on board but the boy’s ministry helped millions of people come to know Christ and spend eternity in heaven? What if the next great evangelist was on the train? What if a great scientist, an inventor…, what if the cure for cancer was on the train?
We don’t have sufficient knowledge and understanding to make the wisest decision.
• Only God knows all things about all people for all time, and how everything impacts one another.
• No wonder Romans 11 says, His judgments are unsearchable, and his paths beyond tracing out!
• What is wisdom? Wisdom is not knowledge; it is the wise use of knowledge. Wisdom is not experience; it is the wise use of experience.
And this all-wise God has your highest good in mind! Think about that for a moment.
• What difference would that make, if you firmly believed that what you are going through was allowed or orchestrated by an all-wise loving Father?
• What if EVERYTHING in your life was part of a wise plan? What if you got to know that there isn’t a plan B or plan C, because it has always been a plan A for you, in God’s sight?
• Can you imagine what would happen to your anxiety level, what it does to your emotions?
There is no accident to an all-wise God. When you are convinced of that, it will transform your life. Your whole outlook to life will change.
• If God’s wisdom is unfathomable and unsearchable, then what can man do?
• We cannot KNOW His wisdom; we can only TRUST His wisdom.
• Proverbs stays wisdom is rooted in fearing God. He is the source of wisdom.
(1) TRUST IN HIS WISDOM
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (cf. Isa 55:8-9)
• A. W. Tozer says we are filled with anxieties and worries in life because we are trying to manage life trusting upon our own wisdom. “There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.”
[The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 63]
Every action or inaction has its impact and implications. Everything you do or choose not to do, will have its consequences.
• Our lives are like pebbles dropped into the lake of history, and the ripples impact countless other people, generation after generation. You decisions affect not just you, but the lives of those around you, and also the generations after you.
• Only God can keep track of all of these. He sees them all. In one instant, he sees all relationships, all impacts, all implications, all consequences, and how they all fits into His plan.
• It may be not your personal choice. It may not be your preferred choice. It is not even the best choice in your judgement. But it is the WISEST choice to God!
Isa 42:16-17 “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. 17 But those who trust in idols, who say to images, `You are our gods,' will be turned back in utter shame.”
• It’s alright even if you feel like the blind, walking through unfamiliar paths, in rough places and in the dark. He is the guide; He leads.
What is the most difficult problem in your life right now?
• Pass this now to Him and place it on His table. It’s in His hands right now.
• Let God handle it. God has everything set up for your highest good. That’s the perspective we need to have.
God loves us and He committed to providing His children the best, but His best may not always coincide with our best.
• It may be not your personal choice. It may not be your preferred choice. It is not even the best choice in your judgement. But it is the WISEST choice to God!
• It must be the best possible means, done in the best possible way, to produce the best possible result in my life. What I am experiencing now is God’s wisest move.
How do we respond to a wise God? (2) BE HUMBLE
Human wisdom elevates the self and lowers God. It sees self as superior. It feeds our ego and pride.
• 1 Cor 8:1-2 “We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.”
• No matter how knowledgeable or wise we think we are, we must always remember that before God we are finite, which mean we are very limited in our understanding and probably naïve to God.
This is the reason why some people scoff at the Gospel.
• 1 Cor 1:18-21 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
• The message of the Gospel is too simplistic and naïve. It calls on men to do nothing — it allows them to do nothing — but accept in simple faith what God has done.
• One pastor says, “The cross crushes human sin and crushes human pride.”
• There is nothing we can boast. We are saved, not by our good works, but by God’s grace.
(3) ASK GOD FOR WISDOM
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
Daniel had a very unique encounter - Dan 2:1-2
1 “In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed.”
• He wanted them to TELL him what the dream was and INTERPRET it. No one was able to do that.
• Dan 2:12 “This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.”
• Dan 2:16-23 “16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. 17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him. 23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king."
Ask God for wisdom. King Solomon did that and God blessed him greatly.
• I remember when I was in Sec 1 or 2, for some reason I find myself lacking behind and not understanding a lot of things. I was a little worried and kept asking God for wisdom. I did that almost every other day, until it became part of my habitual prayer, like saying grace at meal time. I remember I did that for a few years, until I was in Poly and that’s when God called me, at the end of my first year in Polytechnic.
• Looking back, I know very well that God helped me, not just in my studies but in the many decisions I needed to make in my life.
• James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, you are infinite in wisdom and knowledge. As we consider Your wisdom, help us live in awe and reverence for you, feast daily upon your Word, ask for your wisdom in every situation, and trust you completely when life doesn’t make sense.
Let us know your will and help us to follow it wholeheartedly, remembering that you already know every ripple of every action throughout history, now and forever. We trust in your wisdom, we know that everything that happens is Your wisest move for us. We humbly come before you and acknowledge our need of You, Lord. Grant us wisdom, and help us submit to You in every situation. This we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
