There are things hard to be understood that happen in our lives, or more literally, that are impossible to understand. God allows hard conditions, circumstances, and situations to come our way, and even directly determines some of them. All are known to Him before ever they happen, and our Lord's place and power in the universe means that if He chose to do so, He could stop every one of them before they reach us. Or then again, maybe He couldn't.
"As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).
Our Heavenly Father's actions are determined not only by power, but by character as well. His perfect way is the fruit of His perfect heart and mind. Therefore, that which He determines and allows must correlate with who He is, and with the eternal purpose in Christ that guides His every action. God is not capricious, nor does He act on whims or notions that pop into His mind. He rather works according to an understanding that the Psalmist declared to be "infinite," and a love that "passeth knowledge" (Psalm 147:5; Ephesians 3:19). His determinations and allowances all flow from this fount of a perfect heart and mind, and all things in our lives must be understood in this context.
Such truth is far more easy to assimilate mentally than it is to embrace in the everyday realities of life that bring us both blessing and difficulty. Trusting that God's way is perfect conflicts with our flesh, and our spiritual enemies scream and whisper to us that our Lord should act differently than He does. "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died" said Martha, representing all of us who at some time or another question the Divine way we know in principle to be perfect, but which in practice is hard to embrace (John 11:21).
Our Heavenly Father is well aware of the conflict we face. He knows that we remain in tents of flesh that often flap in the winds of a fallen world. He knows that Satan and the world incessantly fight against our confidence in God's perfection. He knows. He understands. And so He speaks gently but with uncompromising assurance to Martha, and to us. "Thy brother shall rise again" (John 11:23). Or in context of our trials, "I know, My child, that you cannot understand why I let things die that are precious to you. And I know even more that it painfully tears your heart. But I know also that resurrections are better than healings, and the perfection of My way will not allow Me to be satisfied with anything less."
God's way is not merely good, or great, or wonderful. It is perfect. We can trust His heart and mind when we cannot understand His hand. As we do, we shall see our particular Lazarus come forth from the grave, revealing that the perfection of our Lord's determinations and allowances always lead to glories far beyond anything our minds can anticipate. "Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" was Paul's joyous affirmation of a perfect way that springs forth from a perfect Mind, a perfect Heart (Ephesians 3:20).
"He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He."
(Deuteronomy 32:4)
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