Before 2011 ended, my husband and I received a bad news about our financial investment. We lost a huge amount of money. We are not sure if we can regain what we lost. We had planned to use the money to build our home. But God has a different plan. I don’t know what it is but I trust him to bring good out of this situation. It isn’t easy to quiet my questioning heart but God is gracious to me. He holds me close even as I cry.

A portion of A. W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy gives my heart a steadfast hope. I wrote this in my journal in August 2010. It is quite lengthy but Tozer wrote it so beautifully I wouldn’t dare mess up his words. He says:

“To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.

There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to him. Here is his promise: “And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; and I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and not forsake them…”

It is heartening to learn how many of God’s mighty deeds were done in secret, away from the prying eyes of men or angels. When God created the heavens and the earth, darkness was upon the face of the deep. When the Eternal Son became flesh, he was carried for a time in the darkness of the sweet virgin’s womb. When he died for the life of the world, it was in the darkness, seen by no one at the last. When he arose from the dead, it was “very early in the morning.” No one saw him rise. It is as if God were saying, “What I am is all that need matter to you, for there lie your hope and your peace. I will do what I will do, and it will come to light at last, but how I will do it is my secret. Trust me, and be not afraid.”

With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.”

AMEN.