In his day, Dr. Thomas Guthrie was one of Scotland’s most popular and respected preachers. On the subject of the Christian life oftentimes being difficult, perplexing, and downright confusing, Guthrie said:

A man standing on the summit of a lofty mountain commands a wider landscape and sees things that on the plains below would have been quite invisible. So many things unknown, incomprehensible to us on the plains of earth will be all visible on the mount of Heaven.

The gist of Guthrie’s words is that in Heaven the Christian will at last have access to God’s perspective. If life on earth is the low valley where visibility is limited, life in Heaven will be the mountaintop where visibility is total. “Why did this happen?” “Why didn’t that happen?” “Why did God cause such a thing?” “Why did He allow such a thing?” “Why did He send me B when I asked for A?” All these questions will be answered in Heaven. Not only will they be answered, each Christian will even be able to truthfully say, “I see the wisdom in God’s course of action.”

Another notable preacher, America’s Vance Havner, used to say, “God marks some things, ‘Will explain later.’” When will this “later” be? In some situations we get our explanations after only a few hours, days, or weeks. Other explanations, however, take longer, and we only receive them after many months, years, or even decades have passed. And then there are those really elusive ones, those that remain forevermore out of our reach in this earthly life. Those, unfortunately for us, must wait until Heaven.

Why does God treat His servant this way? The answer is that He knows that if He gave you all the answers at one time and laid out your whole life’s course in one setting, you would grow spiritually complacent. You’d stop asking Him for guidance and looking to Him for help in understanding because you would already have all the answers. This would inevitably cause you to become spiritually sloppy and, even worse, spiritually cocky. After all, it’s a humbling thing not to have all the answers.

So, Christian, do you currently feel as if you are stumbling around in the dark? Do the recent events of your life have you as confused as a goose in a hail storm? Have you grown frustrated with God because He hasn’t given you that answer you need? Well, I wish I could promise you that your answer will arrive soon. The fact is, it might. But then again, that answer might just be on that list of ones that you aren’t slated to get until Heaven. And if that’s the case, the question will then become a very simple one: “Will you continue to trust in the Lord and faithfully serve Him even if you never receive that answer in this life?” Ah, now that’s a good question, and the answer to it is one that only you can provide.