Having been to college, and that being a Bible college, what I know has been an imortant part of my life. Not just the body of knowledge but the veracity of it, and more importantly, the assurance of it. I've been part of many discussions centered around what is known; whether that knowledge be learned, exerienced, understood or referenced in an encyclopedia somewhere. The more you knew, well, the better prepared you were to serve God and impart that knowledge to others. Knowing was everything.
Twenty some years later (yes, it's been that long!) I have gained some respect for the opposite end of the spectrum. What I don't know doesn't intimidate me so much anymore. In fact, I am slowing coming to the humbling conclusion that what I don't know is a big part of my growing relationship with God. What I don't know keeps me in awe of him. The beliefs we argued about in college, the things that were beat into our heads to the tune of pounding on the pulpit during chapel, the things I rattled off with such certainty to unbelievers now seem so arrogant and assuming to me.
Lest you think I'm saying "I don't know nothing" let me quickly clarify. I do know a few things. I know without a shadow of a doubt that there is a God. I know he is a sovereign, omnipotent God that spoke the world into existence. I know I'm created in his image. I know that eternal life is mine, only because his precious Son gave his life for me.
But there's plenty I don't know. I don't know how or when he's coming back. I don't know how it is that he could love me, or how he knows my name, out of the billions of people on this earth. I'm not always certain whether certain things are right or wrong, and I certainly have many unanswered "whys." Nevertheless, it's these things I don't know that shrink me down in my own estimation and magnify this God of mine.
I'm glad for what I don't know. It's the mystery that constantly draws me closer to the heart of God.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
What I Don't Know
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8 comments:
And the fact that you don't know, and still trust, is the depth of your faith. Well said, Dianne.
Great post, Dianne. It always amazes me how much I don't know.
We don't, but God does. Praise Him!
Have a great day!
We had a discussion, last week at Sew and Sow, about what the Bible has to say about how long we'll live. I was relatively certain back in the OT there was a saying that men would live to a certain age. Then in the NT it was revised to be more around 80. The longer I live, the more I realize how little I actually know, even head-knowledge wise, and certainly the bigger stuff beyond that. Why I was redeemed, why he forgives me over and over and over, how it must have felt on the cross to be covered with the sins of the entire world, what we'll do in heaven someday...the questions never end, yet it says someday we will know fully. That's good enough for me for now.
I believe I know you got wisdom, girl! As I get older I get frustrated with the pat answers of the evangelical world myself. God's got to be bigger than that.
Amen to that. I think part of the process of learning is letting go of the knowledge that was "handed down" to you and gaining it back on your own, if that makes sense.
Dianne, your last sentence says it all.
What we don't know is the glue that holds us to the very heart of God. He sees around every corner, and that frees you and me to rest in him.
I love your writing. It leaves me feeling full.
I think this is maturity - lessons of life that we couldn't "know" when we were young. The difference between knowledge and wisdom.
Like the song - "Ah but I was so much older then - I'm younger than that now"
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