It’s not the days of glory that try the faith of a Christian, but rather the troubles of life that prove the genuineness of one's faith. In times of trial, the false convert turns their face while the Christian gazes upon the wisdom of God. His wisdom is their comfort for they know it is more than mere knowledge. Rather, it is understanding the right way to act in all things, including their suffering. Since this is so, I ask you, dear reader, to imagine your life under immense trials. Think of your friends living at peace; all is well with them and their loved ones. However, you and your family recently lost all of your possessions in a tragic fire. You didn’t anticipate such a disaster so you never considered insurance for your goods. Now you and your family stay with some friends. Then suddenly one afternoon while you’re fretting over your financial state you’re notified that your family was just killed in a car crash. You are devastated. As you grieve you become concerned for your health. Eventually, you decide to visit the doctor and you are notified that you have been diagnosed with a chronic debilitating illness. All that you once held dear has been snatched out of your hands and no person can seem to console you.
Now, all that may not be true for you, but there is a man the Scripture speaks of who struggled quite similarly. His livestock and servants were killed by the sword and fire, his children were found dead as a result of a storm, and his entire body was inflicted with loathsome soars. He tore his robe, shaved his head, and cursed the day of his birth. His friends sought to give him counsel in his distress, but they only brought more trouble to his soul. Therefore, this man, Job, found it right to question God. For he knew that God was the one who permitted the adversary to try him. So God responds to him with many mighty words that reveal His wisdom and Job’s finiteness. And so, Job responds, “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).
May we recall these words when our hearts begin to question the wisdom of our Lord, for we stand before a God so holy that it is a wonder He does not crush us. And surely we know, we are not crushed because Christ was, and that act is the very wisdom of God. The sufferings of Christ far surpass the sorrows of Job, for Christ was forsaken, and Job was merely found feeble. Yet, in all this, both men were never forgotten, for God acted in His wisdom.
Indeed, God reveals his wisdom in other means. God is certainly wise in creation, for Scripture says, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding, he established the heavens” (Prov. 3:19). Further, God is wise in all He wills, for the Scripture also says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). And so it is with the cross, the Son of God, loving His Father, descended into a despairing world so that His Father work all for good. This is the ultimate show of God’s wisdom.
If someone were to gather the most brilliant people together none could establish such a glorious plan of salvation as our Lord. How could the bloodshed of a sinless man accomplish salvation? And why must it be so? Wouldn’t it have been better for our Lord to receive a painless death? To this, the God of wisdom answers with a no. And since God endows his saints with wisdom, in wisdom they respond, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33).
Further, all the saints can be certain that every ounce of suffering is accounted for by God. Indeed the kiss of betrayal, the beat of the flog, the tearing of the skin, the drink of sour wine, and the piercing of the spear were according to the wisdom of God. There is no single event that occurs apart from God’s wisdom and if we were to say otherwise we would deny the absolute control that He holds over all creation.
He acts in accord with his nature and since it is so there are things it is impossible for Him to do. Just as Scripture says it is impossible for God to lie, so it is impossible for Him to act without wisdom (Heb. 6:18). While the saints wrestle in prayer seeking how to respond to various circumstances the Lord does not wrestle with a decision for one moment. As the Psalmist says, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Ps. 115:3). While the saints grow weary in making judgments the Lord does not grow faint, for His understanding is unsearchable (Is. 40:28). He relies on none but himself and He does not need to plead for wisdom as the saints are instructed. He gives from himself and is never found lacking.
Since it is so, even on the cross, God gave from himself. The Father gave wrath to the Son and the Son trusted the wisdom of God, giving himself as a sacrifice. He was not as Job, uttering what He did not understand. Rather, He spoke words that others, even his own disciples, did not know the meaning of. He did not speak of things too wonderful for him, as Job admitted, for He is the man who makes His people wonder. And there is no greater wonder than the Son of God dying for sinners.
Indeed, in His wisdom, Christ endured the cross for the joy set before Him, knowing His suffering meant salvation for His people. This was the message the Pharisees, and religious leaders in Christ’s day denied. In their folly, they did not believe the Messiah could suffer, so they rejected Him and condemned Him as a criminal. However, the Sovereign Lord found it fitting for Christ to be the Suffering Servant, and He has said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9). Is there any other being who can truthfully say these words? Of course not! For this wisdom belongs to God alone. Therefore, every saint must behold the cross, in times of joy and in times of sorrow for the atonement of Christ is the greatest manifestation of the wisdom of God.
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
1 Corinthians 1:25
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