Oh how great the thoughts of Yahweh
And His ways above our own.
Oh how wondrous is His purpose
Unto us in mercy shown.
When the earth lay yet in darkness
On the deep His Spirit stirred
And His power formed Creation
At the signal of His Word.
Where were we when God divided
Light from dark and day from night?
Where were we when all the angels
Praised our God with joy and might?
Did we see the floods divided?
Were we there when land was formed?
When the sun first ruled the daytime
And the sea with creatures swarmed?
Did we witness God’s Creation;
Every little detail made;
Birds and insects, man and woman
Each to see God’s power displayed?
Yet, although WE were not present
Yahweh made it all the same.
No-one counselled Him in knowledge
As He fashioned earth’s vast frame.
And all stands as first created;
Everything as He decreed,
None can stop the sun from shining
Or the plant from shedding seed.
We cannot prevent the seasons,
We can’t halt the dawning day,
We can’t stop a wave from cresting,
Or one hour’s time delay.
Each was formed from earth’s beginning
By the Word of God’s command,
And by His own power continues
In the pattern He has planned.
Through the ages of this planet
Has there yet a day gone by
When the sun has never risen
Or progressed across the sky?
Has our circuit ever drifted
From its course around the sun?
Have the laws which govern nature
Ever ceased since they begun?
No, the answer, all continues
God sustains this world with ease.
By His all-pervading Spirit
EVERY detail Yahweh sees.
If He then controls such vastness;
More than we can understand,
Cannot we then trust His judgment
As He moulds US by His hand?
Surely He who formed the heavens,
He whose power never erred
Can be trusted when controlling
Lives of those who know His Word.
And, as with the first Creation,
God’s great purpose governs all
As He works to make us ready
To respond unto His call.
Yet, as weak and fleshly creatures
We are stubborn in our way.
Nought but trial, pain and anguish
Will prepare us for that day.
But, no chastening is pleasant;
We are bowed beneath our plight.
In our misery and anguish
We can’t see that God is right.
We cannot perceive His reason,
We can’t see His plan unfold.
So we falter under pressure,
As we’re squeezed into His mould.
We can’t see the wider picture.
We don’t have eternal view.
Fleshly thoughts, like fog, enshroud us
And our gaze cannot pierce through.
We can’t see beyond the present.
We are blinded to God’s way
As we struggle with our burden
Which has not been moved away.
So, we ask ourselves the questions:
Why must we in grief remain?
Why has God not acted for us;
Cleared our path of deepest pain?
Yet His purpose will be finished
In the manner always planned,
And in wisdom He is guiding
Sons and daughters to His Land.
It WILL take the deepest trials,
But, although we know despair
We gain comfort from the knowledge
That our lives are in His care.
If the God of heaven’s vastness
Sees the tiny sparrow fall
Will He not acknowledge likewise
Those who trust Him for their all?
How much more are we than sparrows
In our great Creator’s sight?
We are called and blessed of Yahweh;
Those in whom He takes delight.
So, although we know not reasons
Though we cannot comprehend
What God’s wisdom is unfolding
In the trials He will send,
We can trust His love unfailing.
We can trust His judgment sure,
For we know HE never falters
Though great trials we endure.
When at last we stand perfected;
When we recognise the plan;
When God’s purpose is completed
Which so long ago began,
All to us will be revealed.
We shall see the reasons plain
Why we suffered in probation;
Why we went through grief and pain.
And we won’t regret the shaping
Of our minds by trials great,
For without them we would never
Be in this immortal state.
So, we know there’s joy before us.
No-one’s anguish will compare
With the glory of the Kingdom
As God’s character we bear.
What are trials in the present
But a fleeting, passing day
Which prepare us for the glory
Which shall never pass away.