God Doesn't Follow Logic
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Numbers 13:26-29
They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
Before going into Canaan on the scouting report, the men were excited. They had heard what a wonderful place God had promised them. Indeed, they did find it to be a beautiful place that flowed “with milk and honey”. But they were surprised and discouraged to find that the land was already inhabited by a strong group of people who didn’t seem to have leaving on their mind. It did not seem logical to them as they did their scouting, that the ragged group of Hebrews just out of slavery with no weapons could be any match for this powerful group of people occupying fortified cities. After taking a careful look with their human eyes, God’s plan did not seem logical at all.
God’s plan for your life may not seem logical, either. That was certainly the case with me. As a teenager, God put in my heart the desire to become a physician. But it didn’t seem like a logical plan at first. I was on the high side of average in school performance, but attended a small rural school system with a history of only one of its graduates making it to medical school. My family was not wealthy and I knew I was facing many years of tuition. I had no “connections” to medicine with no one in my family, church, or acquaintances associated with the profession. It seemed illogical on the surface that this was God’s plan for my life.
But God provided opportunities, good parents and teachers to encourage and strengthen me academically, and showed me a pathway for college. Most importantly, He provided a clear vision of His plan for my life. He would not allow me to waver in my confidence in His plan, no matter how illogical it seemed on the surface.
God will provide a plan for your life, as well. If you don’t know it, you need to seek it. And don’t be surprised if it is a surprise. God doesn’t follow logic. He never has.
Lord, give me the courage to follow your plan regardless of how illogical it may seem.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
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