Showing posts with label knowledge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knowledge. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Anxiety Because We Forget
Psalm 139 is one of the church's favorite psalms of comfort. God's presence is everywhere, and even if we tried to escape it, we will never find a place where He is not. He knows everything about us, and He knew all of it before we were even born. He's the one who "knit" us together. In this psalm, we see God as sovereign, engaged, caring, and protective. It's no mystery why we love this psalm.
Just look at a sampling of the things God does in this psalm: examine, know, understand, observe, be aware, be thoroughly aware, squeeze, place His hand upon me, have knowledge, be present, be there, never too dark for Him to see, make, perform awesome and amazing deeds, know beforehand, see, and ordain. And after everything is said and done, we still have to contend with Him. Shew!
I am overwhelmed by the completeness of His attributes: to every extent and in every way, to any height or depth, far away and nearby, He is thoroughly God. Because He is our creator, He knows all these things, does all these things, exists in all these contexts and places. Even if we were to list, catalog, analyze, study, and write comprehensive theses about all this, still - there He is, with us, there for us to contend with. His existence is even beyond the sum of His attributes and actions.
My study of my Creator cannot be confined to an analysis of His effects. My creator is there for me to have a relationship with. He knows everything about me, He made me, He already exists in every place I will ever go. He’s there and he knows everything about the me who is there, too.
Many times when we are anxious, it is because we don't know what God knows, and we forget that what God know is ... everything.
Psalm 46:10 He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!”
Forgive me, Lord, for my whining, as if You didn’t know everything, as if You weren’t absolutely there in this specific space, as if Your hand was not upon me, as if You did not create me.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Knowing God's Will 101
What would life be like if we always knew God's will for our lives? Would things be radically different if we had a clear understanding of what it was that God wanted us to do? Would I work differently? Would I be busy about different things? Would I sell some of my possessions or take risks I don't presently take? Would my relationships be more genuine and less judgmental? Would I be more forgiving, more focused, more on fire, more prayerful, more active, more faithful, more generous? It seems like life would have more clarity and be simpler if I just knew what God's will for me was.
I work on the assumption that God always gives us everything we need in order for us to do as He pleases. It's just a basic assumption about the nature of God - that He always equips us to do, say, and think what He wants from us. He may equip us with natural talent, with supernatural gifting, with divine help, with His Word, with wise counsel and good friends, and with knowledge. This doesn't mean that He gives us now everything we will ever need for the rest of our lives, but for the day and for the moment, He supplies all that we need one way or another. Psalm 16:11 has this same confidence, "You will make known to me the path of life."
If this assumption is true - and the bulk of Scripture seems to bear it out - then that means that God is in fact also giving us all the knowledge we need of His will for the moment. At any given moment, God has already revealed enough of His will for you to act, do, think, and speak according to His pleasure - for that moment. Perhaps not enough for the moment that follows, but for this one. When that next moment comes, He will have revealed enough for that one, too. Every Biblical hero lived a life of having enough revelation for the moment, even if not for the next. If He always gives us all that we need, then that means He always gives us enough revelation, too.
That may not be all the revelation that we want to have. We may want to know what we're supposed to do for a big life decision, but not sense Him revealing an answer. But if He never fails to provide for the moment, that means we have access to enough to live that moment well, even if we don't see the answer to the big question written on the wall. We may want to know which college to attend, but instead of revealing the answer to that question, God has revealed what to do right now - seek counsel, pray, listen, and wait. We may want to know about a career choice, but He's already revealed to us to work today with integrity, to work diligently to help the company succeed, and to see our coworkers as people who need Christ's love and forgiveness.
There are many things about us that may affect our ability to access His revelation: unwillingness to do what He wants, lack of interest in knowing His will, the distraction of sin that blinds our eyes and clogs our ears, or even just not being well-practiced in paying attention and heeding His will by faith. But He always gives enough.
This means a shift in thinking. To live with the assumption that God has in fact at every moment revealed enough to me to live that moment well, then I don't need to think, "I would do God's will if I just knew what it was." Rather, I need to think, "God has already revealed to me enough of His will for now. What has He revealed? What can I do to be a better listener and follower? I'm asking Him to reveal X, but He's not done that, so what has He revealed? What do I already know about His will to just get busy?"
I find that most often, we already know most of what we're supposed to do. We already know the character and manner in which we're supposed to relate to people and work. We already know that each of us has some responsibility for the Great Commission to make followers of Jesus throughout the world. Sometimes, we even know which decision He wants us to make - we just don't want to or are afraid to.
If we busy ourselves with what we already know to do and practice better and better listening skills through experience, then so many times I've found He uses that kind of faithful action to reveal more of what He wants us to do with our lives. In other words, as you search out His will, be busy doing what He's already revealed for you to do, and I believe He will use that to reveal even more of His will to you. I've seen it way too many times to even doubt this idea any longer.
What would life be like if we always knew God's will for our lives? Would things be radically different if we had a clear understanding of what it was that God wanted us to do? Would I work, think, act, speak, relate, risk, witness, live, pray differently? Yes! And if this assumption is correct, then we already know enough to work, think, act, speak, relate, risk, witness, live, and pray differently. We already have enough to have Kingdom priorities that are radically different than the world's priorities. It begins with the assumption that God will always reveal enough for every moment.
I work on the assumption that God always gives us everything we need in order for us to do as He pleases. It's just a basic assumption about the nature of God - that He always equips us to do, say, and think what He wants from us. He may equip us with natural talent, with supernatural gifting, with divine help, with His Word, with wise counsel and good friends, and with knowledge. This doesn't mean that He gives us now everything we will ever need for the rest of our lives, but for the day and for the moment, He supplies all that we need one way or another. Psalm 16:11 has this same confidence, "You will make known to me the path of life."
If this assumption is true - and the bulk of Scripture seems to bear it out - then that means that God is in fact also giving us all the knowledge we need of His will for the moment. At any given moment, God has already revealed enough of His will for you to act, do, think, and speak according to His pleasure - for that moment. Perhaps not enough for the moment that follows, but for this one. When that next moment comes, He will have revealed enough for that one, too. Every Biblical hero lived a life of having enough revelation for the moment, even if not for the next. If He always gives us all that we need, then that means He always gives us enough revelation, too.
That may not be all the revelation that we want to have. We may want to know what we're supposed to do for a big life decision, but not sense Him revealing an answer. But if He never fails to provide for the moment, that means we have access to enough to live that moment well, even if we don't see the answer to the big question written on the wall. We may want to know which college to attend, but instead of revealing the answer to that question, God has revealed what to do right now - seek counsel, pray, listen, and wait. We may want to know about a career choice, but He's already revealed to us to work today with integrity, to work diligently to help the company succeed, and to see our coworkers as people who need Christ's love and forgiveness.
There are many things about us that may affect our ability to access His revelation: unwillingness to do what He wants, lack of interest in knowing His will, the distraction of sin that blinds our eyes and clogs our ears, or even just not being well-practiced in paying attention and heeding His will by faith. But He always gives enough.
This means a shift in thinking. To live with the assumption that God has in fact at every moment revealed enough to me to live that moment well, then I don't need to think, "I would do God's will if I just knew what it was." Rather, I need to think, "God has already revealed to me enough of His will for now. What has He revealed? What can I do to be a better listener and follower? I'm asking Him to reveal X, but He's not done that, so what has He revealed? What do I already know about His will to just get busy?"
I find that most often, we already know most of what we're supposed to do. We already know the character and manner in which we're supposed to relate to people and work. We already know that each of us has some responsibility for the Great Commission to make followers of Jesus throughout the world. Sometimes, we even know which decision He wants us to make - we just don't want to or are afraid to.
If we busy ourselves with what we already know to do and practice better and better listening skills through experience, then so many times I've found He uses that kind of faithful action to reveal more of what He wants us to do with our lives. In other words, as you search out His will, be busy doing what He's already revealed for you to do, and I believe He will use that to reveal even more of His will to you. I've seen it way too many times to even doubt this idea any longer.
What would life be like if we always knew God's will for our lives? Would things be radically different if we had a clear understanding of what it was that God wanted us to do? Would I work, think, act, speak, relate, risk, witness, live, pray differently? Yes! And if this assumption is correct, then we already know enough to work, think, act, speak, relate, risk, witness, live, and pray differently. We already have enough to have Kingdom priorities that are radically different than the world's priorities. It begins with the assumption that God will always reveal enough for every moment.
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