One of the 13 or so international telescopes on the peak of Hawai’i’s Mauna Kea. at 13000 above sea level, you feel somewhere in between the Earth and the rest of the Universe

“…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,  in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory”

(Ephesians 1:11-14, NIV)

Life is full of ironies and questions.  Some of them odd and some just plain painful.  Why does one cancer sufferer succumb to their affliction, and another recover to a renewed lease on life?  Why does a lovely, God-fearing, and sacrificial family suffer insane medical crises while other individuals far less concerned about God or others continue on in life unscathed and care free?  Why are we in the West so blessed to be born into our environment of relative ease, comfort, and wealth while someone continents away is born into abject squalor, exploitation, and violence?  These questions haunt me sometimes, because at the end of the day we can’t point to some kind of a “deserving scale” – as if those of us who don’t suffer as badly as others deserve it less.

Ephesians 1 is one of those theologically lofty chapters written by the Apostle Paul.  It can be hard to wade through sometimes, but even at a surface read you can be lifted to this amazing vista on eternity.  Paul seems to write from somewhere above the clouds of the world we know, but below an immense eternity we can’t fathom.  God, who “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” is a God who is not just “big picture oriented”, but He’s a God who has given us His Holy Spirit, as a “deposit”, guaranteeing what is yet to come in glory for those who follow Him.

In other words, He knows we have a lot of uncertainty and questions.    He knows our finite minds can’t possibly comprehend the answers to those “Why?” questions.  This is why in the Scriptures He never attempts to answer them.   He only reassures us of how big and powerful He is, and that all these things work in conformity to the purpose of his will.  This is why also He gives us His Holy Spirit.  His very presence in our lives is real, and it provides tangible assurance and transforming power to strengthen us in our weakness.

Charles Spurgeon builds on Paul’s point beautifully:

“In heaven our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus himself will be the fountain of it. Dark providences, never understood before, will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh! what unfoldings there will be and what glorifying of the God of love! … In this world it doth not yet appear what we shall be. God’s people are a hidden people, but when Christ receives his people into heaven, he will touch them with the wand of his own love, and change them into the image of his manifested glory. They were poor and wretched, but what a transformation! They were stained with sin, but one touch of his finger, and they are bright as the sun, and clear as crystal. Oh! what a manifestation! All this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of effulgent splendour, Jesus shall be the centre and soul of it all. Oh! to be present and to see him in his own light, the King of kings, and Lord of lords!”  (Morning and Evening, August 3rd, morning)

Regardless of the ironies and the tormenting questions, the Holy Spirit in us reminds us of these realities.  He shows us truly that no pain is wasted, and that God is in control.  In fact, without the Holy Spirit in us to reinforce it, that phrase “God is in control” is just another pithy saying.  I’m so thankful the truth of it is deep, dynamic, and powerful.  And it’s all because of Jesus.

The rest of Ephesians 1 really says it all:

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,  which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
(Ephesians 1:18-23, NIV)

The sun setting from the peak of Hawai’i’s Mauna Kea