Monday November 21, 2022
So, are you a smart person? Do you think you know everything about God? Well, you don’t. You only know what God has allowed you to know. And then…. what did you do (good) with even what you were allowed to know? Also, how truthful (in God’s eyes) is what you think you really know? There is no way you can know everything about God because you are not God!
Ok…I have a number of years of education, and I study all the time, but I can tell you if I studied 24/7 I still would only be a baby in my studies about what God says about everything (well, maybe not even considered even a baby). I do know how to study, I know how to pray, and I try not to go by my opinions when it comes to God. I try not to make the Bible ever say what I want it to say. God’s word is not a smorgasbord. I don’t need to ever take God’s word out of context either. God’s word is quite amazing all by itself.
Now, even though my education says I can do certain things, be a certain person, have a certain job…it does not mean I want to, or that I would even be good at it. I am not a speaker and never have been, but I know if it was God who wanted me to be one…then He would help me to do that. I find speaking intimidating, and stressful, and I don’t like conflict either. The world and its evil ways have gotten so bad that I have no need to be on display and argue what I believe. I can tell you what I believe, and you can tell me what you believe, but I do not need to argue with anyone about it I know I have info regarding the Bible, where to find info, but I sure don’t know even close to everything. I know, currently, this is how God expects me to get the message of the kingdom of God out there. He could change that at any time.
I don’t know everything and sure won’t tell you I do. I have found that many things in the Bible are a bit difficult. I also found out that, if and when, God wants me to know what I previously didn’t know then He will show me.
Okay, another thing is do we want to know everything? We want the truth, but since we do, why doesn’t God just tell us everything? Because He doesn’t have to, because we might not be ready for it, and what God does behind the scenes is really none of our business. Why? Because God is God and we are not!
Think of your own family. You might know a lot of things, but sometimes you don’t want to tell your kids. Why? Because not everything is for them to know. God, however, allows us to know a lot, just not everything. Even if you say you don’t like that…oh well! God doesn’t have to share everything with us. I am just grateful He shares what He has.
As I said, I have a lot of education behind me and I love answers to what I want to know. However, I have many unanswered questions. I’ll shelf those and deal with what I am allowed to know. If, and when, God wants me to know more He will show me. Sometimes I ask God for an answer to what I really don’t understand and sometimes He shows me Himself, shows me another time through His word, or I’ll hear someone, out of the blue explain the question that I had asked God for an answer about.
Why does every person who ever lived have some perception of good and bad, right and wrong, beautiful and profane? Why have people tried for over 2000 years to stop Christianity and have failed? Why do some people feel the need to hate Jewish people? (the devil)
I have limits as to what I know. I’ll admit it…I sure don’t know everything. I take God’s word by faith. Why not? I have not once found a lie in anything that God has said or done in my life. But in my walk with God, there remain a lot of mysteries. Though Scripture reveals much, it also leaves much unsaid. I also don’t want to make an interpretation that is not true in God’s eyes. I believe in going by context. What is before it, what is after it, who were they talking to, and what is the culture there? Culture has a lot to do with us understanding things. I hear a lot of interpretations to make things say what ministers and others want you to believe something says. That way they can fit it into what they are telling people. They say things like God is old fashioned and now God would approve of things He already called sins. No, God does not change His opinion of what sin is. If He called it sin then it is still sin.
I do believe the Bible is true. I believe that it is the word of God. I, however, don’t understand everything but I will work even harder on trying to find out the truth if something is necessary to share.
God keeps things hidden. I think that some of why He doesn’t tell us certain things is maybe that is not exactly what God wants us to know right now. I also believe that when we are living for God and trying to do what He says that He will/or might show us even more that we prior didn’t understand.
Before getting exhausted with the mysteries, we should keep in mind the fact that the whole Bible is a record of God revealing himself to people! God has told us a lot of things. Let us use those things we are allowed to know and share that with others.
When the Jewish leaders began denying and resisting Jesus, he began preaching in parables (or riddles) so that only those who were really seeking the truth would find it in what Jesus was teaching. As he would famously say, “Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matthew 13:9, NIV) — in other words, only those who were actively listening for and seeking the truth would find it. Don’t you want to seek the truth of God’s word even if no one else understands it?
For every question, you’d love for God to answer, ask yourself: Am I obeying what he’s revealed already? We can know a lot of things from the word of God…but are we living in obedience to it? Know this: God’s goal is not “to satisfy our curiosity” but to change us according to his will. We need to be obedient to His word and live according to His purpose for us.
Okay, God has told us something important from/in the Book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 29:29 the word says: “Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law” (NET).
As I have said over and over life can be tough. In fact, it can be down-right difficult on our own to maneuver through life. The pressure we experience in the unknown leads us to remain dependent upon the Lord (if we are His), as well as to remain humble in our own limited knowledge. God has told us to live humbly, and humility is at the heart of being like Christ. We all should be humble in our walk through life, but many times we just aren’t.
If I had all the answers, I would have no need to learn from others. I have a very good pastor now that talks the truth of the word of God. I do believe that he loves the Lord and is daily trying to do God’s will. Is he, or any one perfect? No! We do our best, we try to please God…but people can mess up. My spirit knows when I am being lied to. I also know how when I hear a message if what I heard doesn’t feel right in my gut…I will search out what was said by whomever I heard it from and find the truth for myself. We are to search the scriptures so that we know if what we are being told is true or not. A pastor/teacher should not get upset if someone disagrees with them. If the pastor is right that is great news, if they said something wrong and out of context they should not think the world is out to get them, but that they find out if what they did say was right or not. We all make errors, but we should learn from them.
I have also had a pastor prior and my spirit was always upset. This pastor/teacher was just doing something wrong in his sermons. They just didn’t feel right. Oh, he was a very nice man, but something was off. He would tell us what the Lord said to him and that he was going to be this great preacher and have this great church….well, he doesn’t preach any longer. I am not saying this to put him down…I think he was doing what “he” thought best at the time, but it is not what “he” thinks that is important, but what “God” thinks. His family was delightful and dearly loved as well. I also am not saying this to put this pastor down. My family will always love him and his family. I would have liked him to stay preaching but that he would have allowed the Holy Spirit to be the one leading his sermons and life.
If God doesn’t disclose something to us right now, then right now we don’t need to know it. God’s Word tells us that “he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity” (Psalm 84:11, NET). For Christians, whose integrity comes from Christ, this means that any knowledge God withholds from us would not be good for us to know! So why should I whine and complain when I was not given knowledge regarding something? God’s mysteries are yet another revelation of his love for us. He doesn’t burden us with knowledge too great for us. Thank you, Lord for that one! There is quite a lot in this brain and if something more in it would not be good for me, at this time, then I don’t want it now.
There are a great many people like me who really like having closure. We like being able to arrange everything into an organized system in our own mind. I have had OCD for as long as I can remember, and I like things in my life to be orderly. It makes us feel safer. I might not be, but the illusion of being safer is. We who have OCD want things just so-so, but the fact remains is that life will never be so-so, or perfect this side of heaven. You and I are on a journey though life. We can do our best in the Lord or try to go it alone. I tried that before meeting Jesus and I failed miserably at it.
In the meantime, what God gave me an invitation to follow and trust Him on my journey through life. Each of our journey is different. What I must go through and face (even if we think our journey is the same circumstances) is far from the same journey. My invitation is to love Jesus, trust Jesus, and no matter what I see in life, no matter the circumstances I must endure…that I will still hold onto the Lord. The family goes through some of the same circumstances but doesn’t always see it the same way, or react to it the same. Take the loss of a loved one for instance. It hurts everyone, but some it can devastate them and people don’t always understand that. What and how I see something doesn’t mean another family member feels the same way. Every day is a day for me to love and trust the Lord because times are hard, stuff happens, and we live in this evil non-stop hating world until God’s return. If I can’t trust Jesus then who can I trust?
God has our best interests at heart. Learn to thank God for the mysteries. God has given each of us the opportunity to trust Him no matter what we see or feel in life. Every day is another day to get closer to Jesus, to be humble, and do be obedient to the Lord.
As we look around the world…and then we look up into the heavens. Earth is like this tiny dot on a map. God is amazing and creation is amazing. We don’t have to understand the how or why, but I know I can look up into the heavens and be amazed. Maybe someday we will (while in heaven) get to look more closely at all of God’s glorious creations.
I want to thank you God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for loving me, dying for me, changing me, allowing me to love others, and to one day spend eternity with you. Thank you!
So, Lord, I ask you to bless the person who took the time to read this, to protect their journey through life, heal their body, provide for their needs, to give them love and peace, and guide them right into your presence. Thank you.
God bless you!