Better Get Used to Mystery
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. . . my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts—Isaiah 55:9
We men go through lengthy stretches of our lives with an “I’ve got this” posture. We convince ourselves we know what’s best in any particular situation or what’s right against any particular problem. We convince ourselves that we “get it.” We maintain this belief . . . until we can’t anymore . . . until we find we don’t actually know all that we think we know. We maintain it until we finally face the reality that God is God and we are not.
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:24-25).
Never can we have God’s knowledge or wisdom. Because of who he is, because of who we are, there’ll always be a tremendous amount of mystery in the relationship. We must be willing to accept and embrace it—and not let it become an impediment. We may “need” to know why something is the way it is or why something happened the way it did, but most times we simply cannot—and still we must believe, and still we must obey. To be in right relation to God we must instead adopt a posture of “I don’t know . . . and I’ll do what he asks nonetheless.”
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Okay, so what do we do?
I don’t know why ____________ happened, but I’ll trust God nonetheless. I don’t know why I had to experience ____________, but I’ll love him nonetheless. I don’t know why I am experiencing ____________ right now, but I’ll follow him nonetheless. I don’t know why he is pushing me out of what’s comfortable by ____________, but I’ll go nonetheless.
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|| Men Like Us Like Things Like These ||
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How do you find physical and spiritual rest? Exercising outdoors, studying Bible geography, and making breakfast for his family are just a few of the things John “Jack” Beck mentions in his interview with Rapt.
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Encountering God doesn’t have to be complicated. We can connect with him anytime, anywhere. If that’s an area you want to grow in, I recommend signing up to receive once-weekly emails from FLAG Messages. With spiritual messages, Scripture, and practical exercises, each devotional walks you through a new aspect of your relationship with God.
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“If God reveals himself in both Word and world, shouldn’t we expect to encounter instances of lavishly prodigal beauty in creation as well as redemption? Look up.” → Are you a nature lover? Then you’ll enjoy this article on finding God in the gratuitous beauty he’s created.
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