It always amazes me how men can, in any way, think we are a match for God. You may have heard the phrase, “playing God”, referring to someone who by their actions, are trying to do what only God can do - like choosing who might live or die in a situation. Other times people might try to challenge God by calling him out in their anger to “meet face-to-face” to settle a dispute, as if in a fight they might give God a run for his money. Or, people might even try to outsmart God, as if they can set some kind of trap that might thwart God’s plans or catch him off guard. An example of this is when King Herod realized that Jesus was about to be born. The Bible reveals that Herod devised a plan he thought would outsmart God. But it says in Matthew chapter 2 verse 13:
“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’"
And Herod did try. Several children died in his plan to kill Jesus, but God knew his heart and he knew his plan. He didn’t have to send fire down from heaven to consume Herod’s men, or turn Jesus invisible so that they couldn’t see him. But because God knows our hearts and knows our plans, his solution was as simple as sending an angel with a message. We can’t out smart God because he is wiser than us. He has a bird’s eye view of all of our plans. Nothing will take him by surprise, and he can change the course of any planned calamity by something as simple as sending a word of warning.
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We should never forget how powerful God is. This is his world and he makes all of the rules. He has a bird’s eye view of everything that goes on, and he knows the heart of every person. We should never presume to try to take on the role of God, to challenge God, or to outsmart God. These are all futile pursuits which, in essence, tries to exalt ourselves to the status of God. But we are his creation. We should humble ourselves before him, trust him and fall into his loving and capable hands, because for humanity, there is no better place to be.