“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” – Romans 11:33
It was a display guaranteed to bring joy to any “junk food” lover. There was row after row of candy bars, chewing gum, pretzels, chocolate goodies, potato chips, as well as several other sweet, salty, or just crunchy items. A letter and number identified each. All you had to do was push a letter and corresponding number, and the desired treat fell to the bottom of the machine—after you had put in a stack of quarters!
Now, with the children out of the house and grandchildren around, Grandpa is an easy source of quarters. I do not believe, however, that I would hand my six-year-old grandson an unlimited supply of small change and turn him loose on the machine. It is not that he would not enjoy it; it is just the obvious fact that such an action would not be good for him.
Without fully realizing it, some may consider God to be a “Big Celestial Vending Machine,” who is ready to give us anything we choose in life just because we are His son or daughter and He loves us so much. However, that is not an accurate assessment. A vending machine has no awareness or concern about what or how much we choose. God does!
While it is true that God’s storehouse contains “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” God does not just automatically gratify our every whim. And although I have only a limited knowledge of what my grandson really wants or needs, God has absolute knowledge of what is best for us. The depth and riches of His wisdom and knowledge are beyond our comprehension, and they are good and true. We can trust His ways before we can trust our own.
Sometimes we may feel that God has been withholding some things of life from us that everyone else seems to be receiving. We could choose to feel slighted and become bitter against God, or we could choose to acknowledge that God knows best what we need and thank Him for using good discretion. By choosing the latter, we make life easier on ourselves and can experience even more blessings as a child of God.