He Knows Better Than We Do
“With God, a day is like a thousand years so as we pray about our fears. Trust in Him and His timing too, He knows better than we do.” ~ Catherine Pulsifer
Before you read any further, go back to the second half of that last line and read it to yourself. Read it again. Read it one more time. Memorize it. Repeat it to yourself over and over again. “He knows better than we do.”
Some people who read that will think, “That’s nice.” Others who read that will think, “I’m glad He does.” Still others who read that will think, “Oh, yeah? You think so?” Because there are times when we act as if we know better than anyone else, perhaps even including God.
Why is that? Some might say it’s “survival instinct.” We learned early on to rely on ourselves or perish. Perhaps that is why we place so much confidence in ourselves even when we are wrong. Some might say it’s pride. Something drives us to claim that we are better than everyone else and that we know more than everyone else.
Me? I think it’s our flawed human nature. When original sin entered the world, it skewed and tainted everything. We live with the consequences of original sin every day of our lives. If we do not guard against it, we can easily fall to its lures. We are not the be all and end all of everything. We are not the masters of all we purvey. We are weak, flawed people who are in need of God.
We fight against God and His ways from the time we are very young. We are confused why we can’t get things immediately when we ask God for them. We don’t like the answer that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. We are a people who thrive on immediate gratification. If we can’t be satisfied immediately, something is wrong.
No. Nothing is wrong unless it is the sense of our self-importance. God is the One in charge. God is the creator. God is the One who has fixed the times and seasons and ordered everything in the universe. We are merely one of His creations and need to learn our place in the universe.
The sooner that we do, the better we will be able to rest secure in God’s love rather than think that we have to do everything on our own. There really is a great comfort knowing that God is in charge, not us. “He knows better than we do.”
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to give you the virtue of humility so that you may recognize your own limitations and abandon yourself to God’s care.