Second-Guessing God

Psalm 100 says, “Know that the Lord is God.” That instruction seems simple enough. However, do we really let God be God, or do we second-guess God’s actions and intents? This attitude emerges when we wonder things like “Why did God make mosquitoes and ticks?” These creatures are part of a balance of life that we cannot comprehend because we can’t see beyond the inconvenience and disease they cause to humans.

I recently watched a documentary called The Biggest Little Farm, about a couple who bought some land that had been ruined through harmful farming practices and sought to bring it back to life. They were insistent that every creature had a role to play in a balanced and healthy ecosystem, a belief that was tested when coyotes killed hundreds of their chickens and gophers killed many ground crops and saplings. This couple might easily have wondered why God created coyotes and gophers. However, as it turns out, gophers perform a service by aerating the soil as they burrow; it is only when there are too many of them that problems develop. After the couple trained a dog to protect the chickens, the coyotes began hunting the gophers, and balance was reestablished.

Knowing that the Lord is God requires trust that there is a method in God’s seeming madness. We are asked to step back, see that we are just one piece in the bigger picture of the universe, and believe that in God’s design everything ultimately works for the good of all.