Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!

My impression is that God revealed the truths expressed just before this to Paul even as he was writing them, and it blew his mind. Human wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are by definition limited, but not so with God. We have the term, omniscience, which means “all-knowing,” but that isn’t limited to information about what’s going on, it includes the why and how of everything as well. This is a continuation of the thought I wrote on yesterday, and it demands a humility that doesn’t come easily to us. We want to feel like we are in control, that we are the pinnacle of creation. In terms of created things that might actually be true, but we are still nothing compared to our Creator. That He does reveal things to us, as He did with Paul in the verses ahead of this, is astounding when you think about it. And this doesn’t just apply to theology. Many scientists have described their work as “discovering the footprints and fingerprints of God.” That He allows us to investigate and know things about the universe is a very high blessing that isn’t given to animals, for example. At the same time, “scientific consensus” has certainly changed over the years and the centuries. After all, simply proposing that the earth wasn’t the center of the universe got people branded as heretics, back in the day. That’s why the proclamations of “scientific consensus” about such things as climate change today are instantly suspect. C. S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce that one thing we can be sure of is that when we get to heaven we will discover that we were all wrong somewhere. That to me is wisdom from God! We are to rejoice when God shows us things, either by investigation or by His speaking them to our heart, but we must have the humility to remember that we are not omniscient, any more than we are omnipotent. God alone is those things, and that’s a very good thing!

I can certainly identify with Paul’s feelings as he wrote this verse, because I couldn’t begin to even calculate the number of times I have looked back over what I have written in these morning devotion times and realized that God had spoken through my fingers. I do have a high IQ on the human scale, but that is beside the point. I couldn’t come up with some of the stuff God says through me! It was very valuable and important for my intellectual, emotional, and spiritual development for me to fail two classes my freshman year in college, because academics had been such a coast for me up until then. Even so, I had developed an ingrained pride that didn’t really get shaken until the Lord tapped me on the shoulder, figuratively speaking, and when I turned, he had a mirror to show me the state of my soul, just for an instant. I was wiped out. It was a revelation from Him that, however much I might know on the human scale, I know nothing compared to Him, and that’s as it should be. I do get irritated at times at ignorance and slowness in the people around me, and the Holy Spirit has to remind me of how I am compared to God. There is a Japanese expression that really clicks with me: “acorns comparing height.” The difference between Einstein and someone who is barely functional is totally insignificant compared to the difference between Einstein and God!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me walk in continuous awareness of Your grace, in gratitude and humility and never pride, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!