"We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must
cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in
whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct
in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we
confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible,
to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and
guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom,
goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his own
glory." Now you may be thinking with all of that theology packed into a paragraph, you're focusing on the word inscrutable? Yes. Only God knows why :)We live in an age where we assume that everything can be analyzed and understood. Inscrutability is anathema. We are very quick to make a judgment and declare something good or bad, glorious or tragic. Experts that run the gamut of the political and philosophical (or religious) spectrum weigh in on trajectories and ripple effects, and where the world is headed. The mysteriousness of God's providence rarely if ever gets mentioned, even by Christians. This is the age of known quantities and outcomes. Or is it?
Beyond the philosophical reasons that it's not fashionable to talk about the inscrutable providence of God, there is a fear that trusting in a providence that we do not understand will lead to inaction. If the world is guided incomprehensibly by God, then isn't whatever is going on God's will? Do good people, and especially Christians still need to take action? Common sense as well as history answers that question. We work in partnership with God - following where the Holy Spirit leads - with an awareness that we do not understand everything.
Doesn't inscrutability make the world a scarier place? The world is already pretty scary on its own. The Scot's Confession elaborates a little here. God's providence leads to ends appointed by His wisdom, goodness and justice - and a manifestation of His glory. If you want to know what that wisdom, goodness, and justice looks like, read the Gospels. Jesus is the personification of all of those qualities.
