God is both all good and all wise! Solomon declares “By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew (Proverbs 3:19). He established the stars and clouds through His goodness and mercy. Earth had no form. Then God, in His goodness and wisdom, created the seas, mountains, plants, animals, and all creatures in the sky and ocean.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:1-2).
God created man to enjoy all of His creation, so He placed him in the Garden of Eden and gave him a mate to share in the enjoyment and responsibilities assigned to them. In His wisdom, God created a perfect Earth, free from sin, and the Garden was without flaws. Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony within God’s perfect creation.
Man was made to live in full harmony with God, sharing in His presence, provision, and beauty. A perfect God had made a perfect world. Man was created to live a life with no sin! No sexual sin, no perversity, no greed, no coveting; man abided with God in perfect harmony. Earth, too, was made perfect! No hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, or tornadoes. Then, as we know, the serpent hanging on the tree, who lived in sin due to rejecting God’s truth, came to distort God’s perfect harmony.
Satan’s primary goal was to distort the very Word of God because he knew all good things, all God’s Wisdom, abides in His Word. Thus, Satan’s desire is to turn man from the worship of God to the worship of himself. His plan was to get man to depart from God’s great wisdom and follow a lie rather than the truth. Satan wants us as men to join his kingdom of darkness. This is a kingdom that offers temporary pleasure but results in destruction, death, and hell. We see Satan’s true goal on display when he tempted Jesus to follow and worship him.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9)
From that day in the Garden, Adam’s fall led all mankind into the consequences of stepping outside of God’s will. At the same time, all of creation was subjected to the impact of that sin and rebellion. Because God commanded man to take dominion over all the earth, man’s departure from God’s will means that both man and his earthly home will be filled with heartache.
So, if God is ALL-WISE and omnipotent, then could He not see that this heartache and misery would happen? Yes, He knew what would happen, and no, He wasn’t surprised! God knew His children would fall into sin. This is why, before the foundations of the Earth, God, the Father, Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit, the great Trinity, determined that one day Jesus would come as a Savior to gather His children, those who believed in Him. This is why the Word tells His children to use spiritual wisdom and keep their candles burning. (Luke 12:35-36)
He tells us, as His children, to wait, for there is a time coming when He will rescue those who have, by faith, been waiting for Him and doing His will. Hebrew 9:28 declares “So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
His wisdom abides in His Words even now. Satan wants us as men to fall short of God’s plans for our lives, both here on Earth and in Heaven. As men, we are to understand that God’s ways are higher than our ways, which are the very ways that lead us to the Heavenly Gates. At the same time, Satan, the great deceiver, comes to us not to build but to fill us with doubt and to destroy, but his ways lead only to hell.
One example is when God tells us to tithe; why? Because if we do, we will know His blessing and peace.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3:10).
Tithing seems contrary to building wealth. Satan uses this to create doubt. It is no different than the reasons Satan gave Eve to eat the fruit. Satan creates doubt by saying you really can’t tithe because you need to pay your taxes or invest in your business or portfolio. But God’s ways are not our ways. If God gave us the money, then who are we to say no to what God says?
God is not saying, “I don’t want you to eat!” No, he’s saying, “Bring the first of your fruits to the storehouse and watch your barns overflow!” Satan always offers appealing rewards now, while God says, “Trust me, do my will, and wait for my blessing.” As men, we operate in a fallen world, but the Word of God and His blessings for those who honor Him and wait still exist. Not a stroke of His Word has changed.
Our struggles may not go away, but the Truth of God will never diminish. As a man, I may not always understand the why and how, but the Bible tells me to wholly honor the Lord in truth and obedience. Trust means I may not understand the outcome of His will, but I trust that His wisdom and goodness are greater than mine. Obedience may not always be easy, but I do so because anything other than honoring Him is disobedience.
Trust in the Lord and obey His commands, for it is better to live by His guidance in a broken world than to endure the sorrow of straying from His path.
Therefore, we strive as men to obey even as the world around us falls, as we await our heavenly destination and reward! When we walk in obedience, God handles the harvest. But when we walk in disobedience, we bear the weight of the consequences. No man is perfect other than Jesus, but we as men need not be ashamed of standing firm in the will of God, waiting for the blessings that are to come.
Have a great weekend!
Stephen L. Thomas
RTM