Second-Guessing God

“What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” Isaiah 5:4

Throughout the centuries, God has not been without His detractors, even among those to whom He has been most gracious.  Over and over again He must listen to the ungrateful cries of His people, who protest that they do not receive His fair judgment, His promised deliverance, or His abundant provision.  Nor are we immune from this disease.  I must honestly confess that I have too often questioned the wisdom of God’s plan and the genuineness of His love.

I imagine that the people were surprised by Isaiah’s question. “What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” (Isaiah 5:4)  The answer might seem obvious.  The stories of Israel’s oppression were well known among the people.  Even at that moment, their enemy constantly circled its prey.  There was no lasting peace, and abundance only applied to a few.  I can imagine the obvious response, “Yes, God, you could have done so much more for us.”

We are certainly tempted to this same response.  We also want a different world, one less painful and more rewarding.  We want to enjoy our families and our relationships without abuse and brokenness. We want enough provision to enjoy life without fear of poverty and loss.  We want “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  Why won’t God just make this happen?  Why won’t He go this extra mile for us?

We may doubt that God truly desires our good, until we remember that it was His idea to create a Garden of Eden, and He has always wanted us to live there.  Despite our sin, God has sought to bring us there again.  In the story of Abraham and his descendents, we see God’s merciful and gracious hand leading us back to His holy land, the beautiful place of His presence.

Assuming then that both God and we desire the same end, to dwell peacefully and abundantly in His holy presence, perhaps we should acknowledge that God knows best how to get us there.  While we might imagine a more streamlined path, one without the pain and disappointment of this life, God has apparently decided that we need to walk through this moral wasteland that we and our ancestors have created.  He has not allowed His people to escape entirely the layers of corruption and brokenness that our repeated disobedience has secreted.  In some sense, we must own and accept the consequences of our own collective rebellion.

Too often we attribute the impediments of this life to God’s failure to act, when in fact they are linked entirely to our own human choices.  The true miracle is that God still acts at all, that He has not rejected us entirely, but has invested Himself wholly in our lives, to ensure our inheritance in a blessed future.  The testimony that He has left in Scripture, to His faithfulness and to His eternal covenant with His people, should silence all of our objections concerning His commitment to us.  He has in fact gone the extra mile for us.  Time and time again, He has forgiven us, so that He might fellowship with us.  We draw breath entirely because of His long-suffering mercy.

No, we must not second-guess the God who leads us.  His provision by definition must be more than  sufficient for us. If we are ever to reach His presence and the abundance of His garden, we are always best served to follow His path.  Left to our own plans and devices, we will never find our way out of this desert!

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