God works in mysterious ways
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]The phrase "God works in mysterious ways" often describes the idea that God's actions are not always clear or predictable. The Bible includes some passages that may relate to this idea, such as Ecclesiastes 11:5, Deuteronomy 29:29, and 1 Timothy 3:16.
Despite common belief, not from dismissive folk illiteracy, but captures some essence of theology and Scripture.
Used in a poem by William Cowper (who lived 1731–1800), whose first stanza reads, “God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform; / He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm.”
Proverb
[edit]- Expressing confidence that a conundrum has a solution despite it not being apparent.
- Commenting that a seemingly unfortunate or unfavourable situation or change may be beneficial later or in the long run.
- Person A: It seems that I'm about to be fired from my job.
- Person B: Well, God works in mysterious ways — maybe it'll be the kick you need to apply to university...
- The way God guides us in and through our lives may seem illogical and beyond our understanding, but at the end it ultimately leads us to what our hearts truly desire.
Usage notes
[edit]- As a figure of speech, it sometimes does not necessarily denote the religious views of the speaker. Rarely used sarcastically but mostly used by people of faith in God as the phrase is derived from biblical passages.
Synonyms
[edit]- (a situation may be beneficial later): every cloud has a silver lining, blessing in disguise
Translations
[edit]a situation may be beneficial later