How It All Works

Sometimes we are profoundly disappointed. We work toward something. We plan and anticipate and visualize and fully expect, but it all falls apart at the last minute. It seems so unfair. It IS unfair. Mom’s dictum that “nobody said life was fair” doesn’t help much, as true as it is. Disappointment stinks.

Aren’t we supposed to believe that somehow, in the vast, eternal plan, it all works out for the best? That’s hard to believe when all we have is the bitterness of disappointment in our mouth. So, O wise one, what is the answer?

There is none that is very satisfying. In the midst of Job’s troubles, when he asked the question, God reminds him that he wasn’t present when the stars were created or the ocean depths determined or the mountains formed. He wasn’t there when the winds started blowing or breath was breathed into the creatures of earth. If he had been, his pitiful little mind would not have been able to comprehend the reasoning or manner of it all. Only God can fathom the doings of the universe and the wonders of creation.

That is supposed to be the answer. We cannot comprehend or grasp the workings of life and death, the passage of time, the birth of babies, the budding of flowers, the love in one’s heart… nor the disappointments that come into our lives.

But God knows how it all works.