God’s intention and Our Life Experiences

Last year, I shared my thoughts on the subject of trusting God, and I concluded that in-depth knowledge and understanding of God are crucial in putting one’s trust in God. And this has personally been my pursuit as a person.

In that regard, I began reading J.I. Packer's “Knowing God” this year. At first glance, it looked like a theological book that might be uninteresting to me, but Packer's approach to the subject is flatteringly simple while being rich and deep. Honestly, I recommend it to every believer.

How does this relate to trusting God, you’d asked?

Buried in the most unlikely chapter of the book is a conversation about the purpose of ‘trials’. Titled ‘God Only Wise’, the chapter began by describing the wisdom of God and comparing it with ours. Packer, then, went on in that comparison to establish that there is (and might always be) a fallout in our view of circumstances compared to God’s, and he went on to prove that by giving examples of God’s dealing with some biblical characters.

He said,

“...we cannot understand God’s wisdom unless we know the end for which he is working”, and this is true of everything. I have seen people ask questions like, “If God loves me, why am I going through this and that?”

In the book, J.I. Packer offered an answer to that question: ' God has a purpose in everything we go through and it is a double purpose tied to our personal sanctification and our appointed ministry’. How this varies from man to man will inform the differences in our experiences, and we must not fall into the trap of comparing our experiences with people (2 Corinthians 10:12).

You see, God's wisdom is predicated on his omniscience. As the alpha [and] omega, he knew what kind of man we must be to manifest our purpose, and He used every event in our lives to push us a step closer to that kind of man.

So let's read Romans 8:28 (Amplified version) together again in this light:

“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”

Are you going through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’? I want you to not just be assured of the presence of God but of his ability to use every trial and experience to your advantage. But to obtain this comfort, you must see as God sees.

Know Him, understand His person, and live in His precepts and purpose.