“Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.” – Ecclesiastes 11:5.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 is a great verse. It’s a sobering, humbling reminder that there are so many mysterious things in the world that we don’t understand. It reminds us how limited our understanding of the world is and that we are unable to truly understand the magnificence and greatness of God’s power.
Jesus in John 3:8 says, “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” And just like we are unable to comprehend the path of the wind, we are also incapable of genuinely understanding the mystery of a baby in a mother’s womb.
Do you understand the Trinity? Relating to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is easier to experience than explain. A child can believe in, interact with, and trust the triune God, but the combined power of the greatest theological minds of the past two millennia has not been able to explain triune mechanics. We know it works, but we don’t know how.
It should not be surprising because we are dealing with God, whose intelligence, power, and complexity so far exceed our comprehension that we have no metaphor or superlative that can even remotely do Him justice. Romans 11:33-34 says, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?”
Given that, we should expect some conundrums, curveballs, and perplexing situations without clear answers or understanding. But during those times, we need to remember that while God is always at work, we will never know all the details of what He is doing. Acts 1:7 says, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.” Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
God is above all things, and intuitively, we know His thoughts are always higher than ours. We will never know all the details. That is why faith is needed. The takeaway of Ecclesiastes 11:5 is to remember and realize that you don’t know and will never be able to understand everything, but you can trust in the God who knows all things and is always working all things together for the good of those who love Him.
The Bible reveals some things we find extraordinarily hard to understand—things that perplex, confound, and confuse us. When we encounter conundrums that show us the limits of our intellectual capacities, we need to remember that God loves us and wants only the best for us.
Discussion Questions:
- What are some situations in your life where you feel most uncertain or lack complete understanding?
- How does acknowledging that you don’t know everything impact your approach to your spiritual walk?
- How can we use our “not knowing” as an opportunity for spiritual growth and deeper reliance on God?