All Roads Lead to an Inefficient God

Believe me, it’s no fun to get sick and be bedridden just days before vacation begins.

The night before our travel, while we were packing and finalizing our checklists, Talia asked me for Bible verses she could write in the handmade greeting cards she was making for her classmates. That surprised me a little, but I vaguely remembered her doing this in past years as well.

So I asked her if it was a mandatory school project. She said “no,” and explained that she simply wanted to do it on her own. Now she had my full attention. But when she asked me for 18 different and appropriate verses—one for each classmate, tailored to their personalities—I realized we needed to get our efficiency hats on. I was still recovering from a fever that had left me drained for two days, and with all that needed to be done before our trip to the other side of the planet, neither of us had time for such niceties.

So, we compromised. I helped her pick six different verses and told her to reuse them, assigning three classmates to each verse. She agreed, and quickly completed the cards. I assume her classmates were none the wiser.

When time is of the essence, efficiency is dear. But when life is of the essence, effectiveness is vital. Back in school, I learned that efficiency is doing things right, while effectiveness is doing the right thing. This is a critical lesson for individuals—and for nations. The ability to discern what should be prioritized in a given situation is indispensable.

Lessons from History

The Allies learned this sobering lesson early during the First World War. In January 1917, during a long and costly stalemate in the war, the British intercepted a telegram—now famously known as the Zimmermann Telegram. Sent by German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador in Washington, it was intended for the Imperial German Minister in Mexico. It stated that Germany would support Mexico in reclaiming lost U.S. territories—California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado—if Mexico joined the war against the United States.

When the British revealed the contents to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, it brought a reluctant America into the war on the side of the Allies. This shift in power helped avoid catastrophe and secure victory.

Such events call for sober reflection and preparation. In 1919, after the war, a young lieutenant colonel was asked to study how long it would take to transport military supplies from one coast of the U.S. to the other. Two convoys were sent from New York to San Francisco. The result? 62 days.

But it needed to be done in three. That’s efficiency.

Efficiency, however, must lead to effectiveness—otherwise, wars (and lives) may be lost. Over thirty years later, that same lieutenant colonel became President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1956, he signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, connecting the nation with a massive network of highways.

The impact went far beyond military logistics. People traveled more, needed more cars, and stimulated a boom reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties. Hotels and restaurants flourished. Suburban housing expanded. Department stores followed. The economy grew from these indirect, unintended consequences.

But how did the British intercept that crucial telegram in the first place?

The Unexpected First Strike

Was it serendipitous? I once heard serendipity described as "looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer’s daughter!" Not quite accurate here. Historian Barbara Tuchman recounts in The Zimmermann Telegram that the first act of aggression in World War I was committed by the British at 4:00 a.m. on August 4, 1914. Just four hours after declaring war on Germany, a British ship dragged grappling irons along the German-Dutch seabed and cut the undersea communication cables.

By doing this, Britain forced Germany to rely on wireless communication—easier to intercept, even if encrypted. This was not just efficiency in war strategy. It was effectiveness in action. The British acted decisively to gain an advantage—not just by doing things right, but by doing the right thing at the right time.

What If Time Isn’t Pressing?

Now think with me: what happens when time is not of the essence? If you had all the time in the world to accomplish a task, is efficiency still a virtue?

Not necessarily. If I had unlimited time, then efficiency wouldn't matter as much. I would simply focus on the outcome.

This is how God operates. Being eternal, He has all the time in the world. Being omnipotent, He has all the resources. So when we question whether He exists—or cares—because of His apparent inaction in the face of evil and suffering, we're judging based on our limited, time-bound perspective.

 It’s no surprise that the problem of evil and suffering is the number one reason people turn to agnosticism or atheism. The argument is simple: if we, as limited beings, would stop evil if we could, then surely a good and all-powerful God should. And if He doesn’t, then either He is not good, or He is not all-powerful—or He simply doesn’t exist.

A Deliberate and Just God

But God is not a non-volitional force. He doesn’t respond to events like gravity acts upon a falling rock. His will is not mechanical. Consider even the foundational syllogism:

All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.
This tells us that Socrates will die—but says nothing about when.

God's dealing with evil is more like a man jumping off a cliff with a glider. The law of gravity isn’t broken; it’s overridden by the laws of aerodynamics. More information is added to the system. In the same way, God's will is bound to His nature, which demands that evil be answered—but in His time and by His methods.

He is not efficient in the way we expect. But He is always effective. He deals justly with evil. Because we are incapable of paying the price for sin, He paid it Himself—by becoming human, living among us, and dying in our place.

God’s Justice and Mercy

In doing so, God answered evil—not by ignoring it, but by confronting it. Not by destroying us, its perpetrators, but by showing mercy. More than that, He lifts us into eternal intimacy with Him.

The truth is, all roads lead to God—but only one road leads to Him as Savior. All others lead to Him as Judge. The Christian message is clear: unless we meet Him through Jesus Christ, we will face a Perfect Being with nothing but our flawed selves to justify us.

So, if I may be bold enough to paraphrase John Donne:

“Send not to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

And when that bell tolls, He will have all the time to hear your case. But if you belong to the tribe that believes “nobody’s perfect,” know this now—you will be found wanting then.

Navin is a regular writer for Family Mantra. He grew up in Chennai and currently resides in Philadelphia.