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Those who appreciate poetry from poetic works may have heard of Englishman William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) who is also credited with composing hymns of praise (hymnodist) during his lifetime 1731-1800. According to www.poetryfoundation.org, Cowper was "the foremost poet of the generation between Alexander Pope and William Wordsworth. For several decades, he had probably the largest readership of any English poet. From 1782, when his first major volume appeared, to 1837, the year in which Robert Southey completed the monumental Life and Works of Cowper, more than 100 editions of his poems were published in Britain and almost 50 in America".
Cowper penned many pieces of poetry throughout his life such as "Light Shining Out Of Darkness" which is more famously known as "God moves in a mysterious way" written in 1773 as the "black dog" of depression set in, which led to an eventual diagnosis of insanity. Cowper attempted suicide several times and was treated in an asylum. He was a contemporary of John Newton, author of Amazing Grace; they composed together prolifically during 1771-1772 while living in Olney, Buckinghamshire. Cowper had his share of sadness and tragic events beginning with the death of his mother at the tender age of 6. There is much more to learn about this poet if interested by clicking on the link: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-cowper
His poem referenced above is provided below with the famous leading line in the first stanza.
Light Shining Out Of Darkness
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sov'reign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
We can see some evidence here that Cowper based this work on his reading from the Bible. Indeed, religion gave him a therapeutic outlet after enduring much sadness and torment at the hands of relentless bullying as a youngster. Why do I mention this now or even at all? Well there is a reason or a method behind this article and it has to do with a distant memory firmly entrenched in the mind of a family member who is what is known as a lapsed Catholic, as I once was prior to 2006. These days, each time a fortuitous event occurs a comment is invariably made which goes something like this -- "God works in mysterious ways" with a happy smile because an oddity turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Listening to these comments I am reluctant to respond on the one hand because said family member is in a good frame of mind at the time and it pleases me that she credits God with good. However, on the other hand I know that this saying is not accurate nor sourced from the Bible. "God moves in a mysterious way" is the precise quote from Cowper's poem which is espoused by some to be most likely based on biblical scripture found in Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV which states "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts".
You may also like to consider Romans 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" Then there is Isaiah 40:28 "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable". These scriptural quotes provide confirmation that no matter how much we may try to fully understand God in all His glorious works laid out before us in the Holy Bible, we will always fall short in our physical lifetime, the here and now, because we are spiritually incomplete yet we earnestly desire this full completion when it comes. Righteous Job was reminded of this powerfully in the exchange between himself and God throughout Job 38. God asks Job "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place…"(Job 38:19). Of course, Job conceded that he did not know and began to understand with more than an inkling just how lowly humankind is even in their best state. Meanwhile we continue to study and learn by searching out scriptures daily like the Bereans did (Acts 17:10-11) in order to glean a better, more accurate understanding in a humble mindset in order to avoid self righteousness.
Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" has long been a favourite reference of mine particularly when teaching my youngest daughter. Questions that we do not have answers for yet, were responded to by providing this scripture along with the suggestion that we should always go to God in prayer seeking His will even though we think our will may be helpful. Time and experience has shown me over and over again that God's way is perfect and supremely incredible and always right even though His ways may seem mysterious at the time. What I believe all those saying "God works in mysterious ways" really mean is that, even though they find themselves in less than ideal circumstances caused at times by their own choices, they come to realise that God can bring about solutions by using methods they could never have imagined or thought possible. God therefore remains a mysterious enigma to them -- how can He turn such a bad situation completely around with the most unlikely results to benefit them despite the mess they find themselves in? Simple...God is God and there is nothing He cannot do or bring about because all things are possible for God. We know Matthew 19:26 from our faith building moments lovingly given by God.
For those of us with God's Holy Spirit dwelling within we take great reassurance and comfort from the apostle Paul's inspired words in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him' — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ".
We do have the mind of Christ, for the Christian life after baptism is a life where we have a personal relationship with our Creator. We then come to realise and know by comparison and experience that we have been in darkness prior to this time. Once we have this light through the in-dwelling of God's Holy Spirit given to us after full immersion and the laying on of hands from God's ordained minister, we grow and mature through developing righteous character which can be a powerful witness to others (Matthew 5:16). Last week on the Sabbath day the Adelaide congregation celebrated just such an event and rejoiced with tears of joy as another member was joined to God's spiritual family. The day was filled with light so amazingly beautiful we did not want it to end or go home. Eventually we did after lingering quite a while. Back out into the world scattered amongst those who need our light to shine on them as they experience the effects of a very troubled world. God's ways need not be a mystery to any of His children as we continue to pray faithfully...Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.