Today’s thoughts are about biblical wisdom that is difficult to believe. Paul wrote Timothy, his protégé, a statement that seems simple and easy to believe—until it isn’t. Paul said, “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”

When we first read that verse, we think about the powerful testimony to God we see in our world. The complex simplicity of a newborn baby. The powerful displays of color we see in a beautiful sky or mountainside. The uniqueness of God’s creative genius in each animal at the zoo. Accepting that everything created by God is good is easy—until we realize the truth of Genesis 3.

Adam and Eve had sinned. God told Adam, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). God created the beautiful things in nature, but God also created death. There will be a time when we draw our last breath on earth. God created heaven, but he also created hell. It takes wisdom and gratitude to understand and believe that even that truth can be received with thanksgiving.

How do our prayers and God’s word make holy everything created by God? There are truths of Scripture we would reject if we could, but Paul taught Timothy, and us, to receive them with thanksgiving.

Death wasn’t a punishment from God; it was his provision. He didn’t want us to live in a fallen world forever. No one who goes to heaven misses anything they leave behind on earth. God needed to separate the sinful from the saved. He created heaven to be perfect, and sin could never exist with his perfection. His love and holiness would never have created hell for any other reason. 

“God so loved the world, that he gave us his only Son” (John 3:16). God would never have left us in a fallen creation so he created heaven and gave everyone the chance to dwell there. We can be thankful to God, even thankful to him for creating death, when we realize that prayer and his word give us the joy and comfort of his eternal promises.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. God’s joy can result from our wise praise.