God Makes No Mistakes

by Douglas Hoff

God’s nature has fascinated man for thousands of years. Children and adults alike wonder what God is like. The Bible reveals that he knows everything. The psalmist wrote, "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite" (Psalms 147:5). The inspired penman also declared of God, "And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13). This all seeing, all knowing and all powerful being is our God. It is difficult for man to understand and comprehend how God can know everything yet that is exactly what the Bible affirms. He even knows the very thoughts within our minds (Psalms 44:21; Luke 16:15; John 2:25; Acts 15:8; 1 John 3:20).

All of God’s works are perfect (Mark 7:37; Romans 12:2). Since he knows everything he cannot make a mistake and still be true to his own nature. This means there is no waste or inefficiency in anything he does. Jesus lived in harmony with this principle even when he was in the flesh. Why did the Holy Spirit see fit to record the fact that after Jesus fed the five thousand he commanded the disciples to "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost" (John 6:10-12)? Of what significance is it that they had twelve baskets full of leftovers from the five barley loaves? Clearly, it shows the Son of God was interested in avoiding waste.

God does only what is necessary to get a job done. If he ever did anything unnecessary or wasteful it could not be said that he is perfect. Mistakes occur when people do not know all that is needed or they misjudge. God is not like man in that his knowledge and wisdom are far above man’s (Isaiah 55:8,9). God doesn’t have to learn anything because he already knows everything. Again, that is hard for a finite human mind to grasp. However, if there was even one thing God did not know, then his knowledge would not be infinite. If he ever had to learn something by trial and error then God would not be prefect. As such, God is never caught off guard. Nothing surprises God. He never has to correct an oversight since they don’t happen!

Everything God does is done perfectly for the right reason and at the right time. Thus, we can trust that his way is infallibly right. Of course, this is what scripture has been telling man for thousands of years. Consider what we find in Proverbs 3:5, 6: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." The wise person recognizes God can be trusted because he makes no mistakes!