Having Enough Faith to Know That You Don’t Know

… so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything. – Ecclesiastes 11.5 (CSB)

And how does this make you feel? Are you encouraged by the fact that you don’t know the work of God, or are you left discouraged? Does it bring you a sense of calm or fear? I understand how not knowing what God is doing or not doing can be a fear that grips many of you. But does it help to know the One who knows what he’s doing? Does it help to know that God isn’t reacting to anything but, in his sovereignty, is unfolding his plans for you (Jeremiah 29.11)? Maybe some of you reading this are not encouraged to know that God knows because you still don’t see him doing anything to help you right now. That maybe your soul cries out the same thing that David did, “How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13.1, CSB).

I would guess that discouragement sets in deeply within some of you reading this. Knowing God knows, yet your circumstances aren’t improving, makes you wonder why. Fear begins to ravage and beat down your soul like a boxer, leaving you feeling pummeled and down for the ten-count. You cry out to God and keep hoping. But is it hope, or are you simply being optimistic? This distinction was brought up yesterday in a conversation that I had with a friend over dinner. He is a pastor and taught his church community the difference between the two. It made me wonder how often I settle for being optimistic instead of having true hope in what God can and will do. How often do I try to muster a positive attitude within myself instead of falling entirely into the arms of Jesus with everything I’m thinking and feeling, all of my brokenness and fears, because I know that he will catch me? 

“… casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you” (1 Peter 5.7, CSB).

Friend, he cares about you. 

“Then why am I going through all of this?” 

My answer to you? I don’t know. 

I don’t know all that God is up to. I don’t know why this has been assigned to you. But I do know this: God is good, and God is great. And that good and great God cares about you. He is concerned about you. And he is working in ways that we don’t see or recognize in the midst of, and because of, our suffering. “Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4.16-17, CSB).

So, how’s your faith? Is it a faith that “hopes for the best,” or is it a deep conviction, a knowing down deep in your bones, that God can and will accomplish his good, pleasing, and perfect will (Romans 12.1)? John Piper profoundly preached this about faith. “Authentic faith is the confident assurance in events not yet seen. Faith is not a call to believe in things when common sense tells you not to. Faith is not a mindless stab in the dark. It is not a crossing of the fingers and hoping for the best. It is not a leap into apparent nothingness. It’s a word that speaks of reasoned, careful, deliberate, intentional thought. Thought upon what? God and his promises. If you were absolutely gripped by the coming realities that have been promised to you by God, then how you live your life in the present will be radically different than if you did not possess such certainty. This is what faith is, my friends: positive certainty expressed in action. Authentic faith is not merely believing in God. Is it believing God.”

And so you may not know what God is doing, but you know God. You may not understand why God is not changing your circumstances, but you can be certain that God is changing you, and that for the better. And even though this “momentary light affliction” truly is difficult, you can be convinced that this affliction is producing for you “an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” God does not disregard your pain and hurt, calling it “light.” Rather, he’s reminding you of the incomparableness of his promises, making our afflictions seem light compared to the weight of his eternal glory.

So you may not know what is happening. You may not understand the works of God. You may not understand the why behind it all. But, you know God. And he knows you. Sees you. Cares about you. And, “the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. To him be dominion forever. Amen” (1 Peter 5.10-11, CSB).

You can listen to John Piper’s description of faith below.