Trust the Maker of All Things

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)

“Grammy, that horse is close to their house so that means it’s their pet,” said my 5-year-old grandson as we drove by the house with the windmill in the front yard…and a lone horse.

I think my mouth actually fell open as I realized this little boy quickly reasoned that because the horse was penned in the front yard rather than in the expanse of the back field, it seemed logical that he wasn’t a farm animal but rather a beloved pet. That to me is solid logic and I was so impressed his little mind could reason like that. I mean, I saw the horse and the proximity of the house and not once did it occur to me that Mr. Ed could be the family pet. And I can assure you I’m more than five years old.

I still think about what he said that day and how “A” plus “B” equalled “C” in his mind. That’s actually how logic works…except regarding God.

Let me explain…

Many years ago I heard God tell me He was going to use me to speak. Upon hearing these words as clear as if He was standing right in front of me saying them, my logic then told me that meant on a stage in front of women.

I was overwhelmed that God spoke directly to me, but because my heart is burdened for those who want nothing to do with Jesus because they really want nothing to do with organized religion or the hypocrisy they see in people claiming to be Christians, I was also incredibly happy to have an answer to the many prayers I prayed searching for a purpose–my purpose. 

Maybe that’s why I did what I did not ten seconds after God impressed upon my heart the dream of being able to share about Him with others. That is, I made assumptions of what walking out that purpose would look like.

I want you to know that my assumptions didn’t come from ego. They came from what I thought was logic. But, in case you didn’t already know this, let me be the first to tell you that God doesn’t operate within the scope of our logic. He operates within the scope of who He is and who He is transcends everything we say He is.

Solomon, son of King David and revered for his wisdom, says in Ecclesiastes 11:5, “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.”

Now, I’ve already shared with you about one of my assumptions upon hearing God, but, just like those late-night infomercials, there’s more.

My logical assumptions didn’t just encompass the WHAT my purpose would look like. They had the audacity to assume the WHY. Then they were brazen enough to tell me the trajectory of my new path of purpose.

“Well, God must be getting ready to put me on that stage because look at all the doors He’s opened for me. Look at the opportunities He’s given me to write. The mentor He’s put in my path. Surely, this is all just leading up to writing a book and being able to travel to different states and speak.” All these things would have given me immense joy because I would be able to share God’s truth with others and what He has done in my life.

But there haven’t been any stages. No mic-drop moments. No book. No travel. There has been nothing like I pictured at that moment I heard God speak to me. As a matter of fact, for years there was literally nothing.  No movement at all towards that dream He put on my heart—that purpose I would be fulfilling. But I kept believing God would use me the way He said He would and logic dictated it would be soon. So I waited. And waited. Then waited some more.

I’m going to let you in on a little not-so-secret secret—when things don’t happen the way we thought they were going to happen or the way we want them to happen, we can feel confused and maybe even abandoned by God. We can feel like we’ve been wrong about everything. Wrong about Him. We might even begin to question the value of our faith, especially since we don’t seem to be faring any better than those who don’t believe. We can even begin to question God and His goodness. I have felt all these things at different times and sometimes all at the same time. That’s fun!

But you know what? Solomon wasn’t wrong. He rightly pointed out the limitless knowledge and breadth of God and reminded us that He is the “Maker of ALL things” (emphasis mine). In reminding us of who God is, Solomon also reminds us of who we are not.

Because of who God is and who we are not, there is no way we could ever know what God is doing or why. Otherwise, we would be His equal and God has no equal.

When was the last time either of us could see the future and how what we are doing or deciding today will impact that future? I’m not talking about making the best decision we can make based on the information we have. I’m talking about making a decision based on the information we don’t have.  Remember, we would also have to KNOW how what we’re doing today will affect the plans God has for someone else too.

Because God is God, He sees into eternity and has had a plan for our life before we drew our first breath outside our mother’s womb—where He lovingly and purposefully knitted us together. He knows how the plan He has for us works synergistically with the plan He has for someone else. How it fits into the plan He has for His kingdom.

Friend, He is the Maker of ALL things. He created the wind and only He knows the path in which it will blow tomorrow. Only He knows a child before they’re even conceived.

So, if today you find yourself in a place you never would have chosen, He knows why He’s allowed you to be there and what He’s going to do with it.

I’m going to share one last thing with you: My logic of what God was going to do in my life with the dream He put on my heart was “A” and combined with “B” it would equal “C.” The truth is, what God does with the dream He gave me isn’t ever going to equal anything man is capable of measuring.  He does God math.

Wherever you are today, He knows right where to find you. And, sometimes He has us right where we are so we can find Him. Or find more of Him.

I’ve stopped looking for the stage I thought I’d be on and have become so very grateful for the “stage” He has me on—right here with you sharing my heart and caring deeply about yours. I've learned to trust God with all the details– the what, where, when, and why–of the big dream He gave me because only He knows which way the wind will blow before it ever forms.

Trust the Maker of all things.

The wind does.