The Roundabout Way

We used to have this mini van.  It had power doors that worked well at one time, but as the van aged they got progressively finicky on how they worked.  It seems that each had it's own special set of rules.  One the locks worked with the key better than any other way.  Another the power lock would only work manually.  One door we just left shut.  Still another would only open if we pushed the unlock and the power slider button at the same time.  I'm not sure how we discovered that we had to do that, but we did it because that's what worked.  We all have our things that seem a bit illogical, but we do them anyway.

We all have our ways.  There is  certain way that we travel from point A to point B.  It may not be the most direct or the fastest or even the most scenic, but it is the way we go.  Our ways don't need to make sense to anyone but ourselves.

There was a time that I worked at a Sears doing security.  Sometimes we would have to watch employees who were suspected of stealing to see if they are doing anything out of the ordinary.  But anyone will behave in unexpected ways if we just watch them long enough.  It's what people do.

If it's hard to understand the methods of people, how much more is it hard to understand the logic behind God's methods.  From time to time we all say, "Why God?" and if you are like me, a person who likes to know the why and the how and the plans, not knowing the plans of God can be very frustrating.  

But I know I'm not entitled to know the plans of God.  He's God.  I'm not.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Elijah sits by a creek and waits for animals to bring him food.  Then when he is really desperate, he needs to find a widow with a little.  Why?  Why not just give the man some food?  The Israelites in the desert were given manna, why not that? Why?

Well.  I suppose that getting a little bit of food daily forced him to rely on God, daily.  It kept him out of the way so that the king could calm down.  It blessed the woman and her son by witnessing the miracle.  Or there was another reason that I just don't know about.  After all God is god and I am not.