“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?
And who has given Him so much
that He needs to pay it back?For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.”
— Romans 11:33–36 NLT
There are times when we simply don’t understand God.
We pray, but the answer doesn’t come.
We ask God to open a door, but it remains closed.
We trust Him for healing, but the situation doesn’t change.
We make plans, but circumstances take us in a completely different direction.
We ask, “God, why?”
Sometimes we eventually understand. Sometimes God gives us a glimpse of what He was doing.
But sometimes we don’t.
And that can be one of the hardest parts of faith.
Paul reminds us in Romans 11 that God’s wisdom is far beyond ours:
“How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!”
That isn’t a statement of despair. It is a statement of worship.
Paul had been explaining God’s incredible plan of salvation, and as he considered the greatness and mystery of God’s purposes, he reached the limits of human understanding.
And instead of becoming frustrated, he worshiped.
There is an important lesson here for us:
We don’t have to understand everything God is doing in order to trust Him.
God sees what we cannot see
We see today.
God sees eternity.
We see one circumstance.
God sees the whole story.
We see what is happening to us.
God sees what He can accomplish through us.
Our perspective is limited. God’s is not.
That doesn’t mean every difficult thing that happens is something God directly caused. Scripture doesn’t teach us that everything that happens is good.
But it does teach us that God is sovereign, wise and trustworthy—and that He can work even through circumstances we don’t understand.
Romans 8:28 reminds us:
“God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
Sometimes we see the good immediately.
Sometimes we see it years later.
And sometimes we may not see it in this lifetime.
But God sees the whole picture.
God doesn’t need our advice
Paul asks:
“Who knows enough to give Him advice?”
That’s a humbling question.
We often come to God with our own ideas about what should happen.
“Lord, this is what I think You should do.”
“This is how I think You should answer.”
“This is the door I think You should open.”
There is nothing wrong with bringing our desires to God. Jesus Himself taught us to pray and ask.
But prayer ultimately brings us to a place of surrender:
“Your will be done.”
God doesn’t need us to explain the situation to Him.
He doesn’t need us to show Him the best solution.
He doesn’t need our advice.
He asks us to trust Him.
God knows what we don’t know
Paul says:
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?”
We will never have God’s complete understanding.
And that’s okay.
Think about how often our understanding changes as we get older.
Something that once seemed terrible may later become something we are grateful for.
A closed door may eventually prove to have protected us.
A delay may have prepared us.
A disappointment may have redirected us.
A difficult season may have deepened our relationship with God.
We couldn’t see it at the time.
But God could.
That’s why faith is so important.
Faith means trusting the One who sees what we cannot see.
Everything comes from Him
Paul then takes us even deeper:
“For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory.”
Everything comes from Him.
Our life comes from Him.
Our abilities come from Him.
Our opportunities come from Him.
Our strength comes from Him.
Our salvation comes from Him.
Our very existence depends upon Him.
That realization changes the way we look at life.
We are not self-made.
We are not self-sufficient.
We are dependent upon God every moment of every day.
And because everything comes from Him, everything ultimately belongs to Him.
Everything exists by His power
Paul says that everything “exists by His power.”
God isn’t simply the One who created us and then left us to figure life out on our own.
He sustains us.
Every breath is a gift.
Every day is an opportunity.
Every moment is held in His hands.
Jesus said:
“Apart from Me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5
We sometimes think we need God only when something goes wrong.
The truth is that we need Him all the time.
When life is going well, we need Him.
When life is confusing, we need Him.
When prayers are answered, we need Him.
When prayers seem unanswered, we need Him.
When we understand, we need Him.
When we don’t understand, we need Him even more.
Everything is for His glory
Paul concludes:
“Everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory.”
This gives us the ultimate perspective.
Our lives aren’t ultimately about us.
Our circumstances aren’t ultimately about us.
Our gifts aren’t ultimately about us.
Our accomplishments aren’t ultimately about us.
They are ultimately for His glory.
That means when I don’t understand what God is doing, I can still ask:
“How can I glorify God in this?”
I may not understand the circumstance.
But I can still trust Him in it.
I may not know what He is doing.
But I can still obey Him.
I may not see the outcome.
But I can still worship Him.
When you don’t understand, trust His character
We often want God to explain His actions when what we really need is to remember His character.
God is good.
God is wise.
God is faithful.
God is loving.
God is holy.
God is trustworthy.
If I knew everything God knows, I would understand everything He does.
But I don’t.
And neither do you.
So there will always be moments when God’s ways don’t make sense to us.
That’s where trust becomes real.
It is easy to trust God when everything makes sense.
Faith says:
“Even when I don’t understand, I know who You are.”
Worship when you don’t understand
Paul ends this profound passage with worship:
“All glory to Him forever! Amen.”
He doesn’t have every answer.
He doesn’t explain every mystery.
He simply stands in awe of God.
Perhaps that is what we need to do sometimes.
Stop trying to figure everything out.
Stop demanding an explanation.
Stop assuming that what we see is all there is.
And simply say:
“Lord, I don’t understand—but I trust You.”
“I don’t know what You are doing—but I know You are good.”
“I can’t see the whole picture—but You can.”
“I don’t have all the answers—but I know You.”
When we don’t understand God, we can still trust God.
Because everything comes from Him, everything exists by His power, and everything is intended for His glory.
“All glory to Him forever! Amen.”
