Canst not tell whence it cometh

The bible includes several passages that emphasize our inability to understand heavenly matters. One example occurs in the book of Judges, when an angel announces to Samson's parents that they will have a son. Samson's dad asks the angel his name, to which the angel replies (Judges 13:18, KJV),

Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

The Hebrew word translated as "secret" means something close to "incomprehensible."

Another example occurs in John 3, when Jesus is dining with Nicodemus. Nicodemus expresses confusion about people being "born again" with the spirit of God. How can that actually happen? Jesus responds (John 3:8, KJV),

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Jesus says that, although we hear the wind, we neither know where it comes from nor where it goes. And the same goes for the spirit of God.

Passages such as these serve to remind us that we should adopt a humble attitude toward spiritual matters. The point of faith is not to understand everything. Rather, the point simply is to believe and trust in God.

God reaffirms our faith

Judges 7 finds the Israelites facing the large, intimidating Midianite army. (Their count was "without number"!) Gideon, the Israelite leader, has an army of only 300 men, so things look dire! But God tells Gideon (Judges 7:7, KJV),

I [will] save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand.

Gideon, faced with such improbable odds, probably struggles to really believe this. But then a member of the Midianite army has a vision in a dream, and an interpreter conveys the meaning that dream to Gideon (Judges 7:14, KJV),

This is ... the sword of Gideon ... for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.

Gideon, encouraged by this message, proceeds to worship God and eventually defeat the Midianites.
 
The amazing part of the story is that, rather than punish Gideon for his (understandable) doubt, God seeks to boost his faith by sending Gideon a reaffirming message. And this is after God has already told Gideon that he will defeat the Midianites.

The larger message, as it seems, is that God understands our day-to-day weaknesses in faith. And, if we keep our hearts open to him, he'll send reaffirmations to boost our faith.

...asked not counsel of the Lord

Life, of course, is not always easy. Jesus acknowledges as much when he says (Matthew 6:34, KJV),

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

But we don't have to confront those daily troubles alone. God not only offers his help, he requires that we seek his help.

Turning to Chapter 9 of Joshua, we find the Israelites entering into an ill-advised treaty with the Gibeonites. God already has forbidden such treaties, but the Gibeonites present a convincing, albeit deceptive, case for establishing a peace treaty.

When confronted with a morally ambiguous situation, the Israelites should have consulted God. They didn't have to make that decision on their own. Instead (Joshua 9:14, KJV),

[They] asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.

And, ultimately, the Israelites' habit of acquiescing to their neighbors -- against God's explicit orders -- resulted in spiritual rot and the eventual demise of the Israelite kingdom.

Let us not follow that path. Whatever difficult scenarios we encounter, let us "ask counsel at the mouth of the LORD." We can do so through never-ceasing prayer!