God’s Inscrutable Works

“As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” —Ecclesiastes 11:5

IF WE have the proper spirit of reverence we will stand in awe on every occasion when we contemplate the works of God and realize how little we know of how they are accomplished. This is true whether we look up into the starry heavens, or out on the vast expanse of the oceans; whether we scan the lofty mountains of earth, or the seemingly endless breadth of its deserts. The greenery and flowers with which we are surrounded magnify the infinite wisdom of the Creator. No wonder a noted poet said that “poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

And when we get into the animal aspects of God’s great creative works, they are equally inscrutable so far as our small human minds are concerned. We know that a newborn baby has to start to breathe in order to live, but how did it reach the point of development where it could breathe, and how does breathing keep it alive? As the child matures it begins to display the characteristics of its father or mother, or both—which again is quite beyond our comprehension. Our text truly states, “Thou knowest not the works of God.”

Among the works of God is his great plan for the recovery of fallen man from sin and death through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. He has revealed all that we need to know about that plan through his written Word of truth, the Bible, and he encourages us to study that Word that we might rightly divide it, and thus be enlightened concerning his will for us. It is a blessed privilege to study God’s Word, and our faithfulness in this is richly rewarded.

But in this partial contact with the mind of God let us maintain an attitude of reverence, and not assume to take away or add to the precious Word of God’s truth. Let us not attempt to be wise above that which is written. A little knowledge at times might well lead one to act as though he possessed all knowledge, and this is a damaging attitude so far as new creatures in Christ Jesus are concerned. Let us rejoice in the knowledge of God’s plan which he has clearly revealed to us; and may we ever remember Paul’s appraisal of the Christian’s knowledge when he said, “Now we know in part.” We will not fully know the works of God until we reach the other side of the vail.

One thing certain which the Lord has revealed to us is the fact that he wants us to bear witness to the great truths of his grand design for the salvation of the world. This clearly-revealed will of God could place a test upon our obedient faithfulness, so we might try to find excuses for not doing the will of God in this respect.

The Bible compares the proclamation of the truth to the sowing of seed. This is indicated in the verse just preceding our text. We quote it from the Amplified Bible: “He who observes the wind (and waits for all conditions to be favorable) will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”—Eccles. 11:4

Clearly this suggests a looking for excuses not to sow the seeds of truth. Jesus spoke of those who put their light under “a bushel,” and the excuses which can be formulated not to bear witness to the truth have in the past, and continue even now, to make many bushels under which comfortably to hide the light of truth. Paul expressed the better idea when, in admonishing Timothy to faithfulness in the total ministry of the truth, he wrote, “Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”—II Tim. 4:2

When the Lord’s servant wrote that he who observed the wind would not sow, he evidently was speaking symbolically. Then he reminds us that just as we do not understand how the Holy Spirit works in connection with the birth of a child, so also are we unable to comprehend other portions of the work of God, who makes everything; therefore the only proper course for us is to follow the instruction of the Word, and then to wait for the Lord to bless our efforts according to his own wisdom and purpose.

Then follows that wonderful verse, “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” (Eccles. 11:6) Just as now we know God’s plan only in part, so we do not know how the Lord will bless our efforts to obey him in letting the light of his truth shine out through the activities of our earthen vessels. We only know that he will bless us in accordance with his grace.

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