"Because I knew that thou art obstinate...I have even from the beginning declared it to thee...lest thou shouldest say, 'Mine idol hath done them....' I have shown thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them." Isaiah 48:4-6
It is when we think we "know" that God upsets our applecart; when we think all points are accounted for and all loose ends covered, that is when the reality check of God's will crashes through all of our schemes like a sledgehammer. There is only one thing that we can know for sure: what God reveals to us. We can never know anything else for sure about people, circumstances, or events past or present: there will always be one fact that we have not accounted for, one point that we missed; and that singular omission is enough to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. The only sure thing is God: who He is and what He says.
Now, this is not at all to say that we should not acquire knowledge; far from it. God made you a rational soul, and your ability to reason is not to be wasted. However, when our reason makes us think that we know exactly what is up, that is when God will check us, for only He knows exactly what is up, only He can see all ends, only He has accounted for all of the facts, We are often surprised; God is never surprised.
Even what we think we know about God is often checked by Him. We know that He is good (for His word says so), but the moment that we think we know exactly how His goodness will be manifested, God upsets our knowledge; in that instant, we can either die away of denial ("I cannot be wrong!") or let God enlighten our minds with this further revelation of His character. This is not about being a knucklehead; this is about God's children honestly living like He is their ultimate teacher and final authority. All that we know, or think that we know, must fall before Him; and since He is the Truth, Him checking our knowledge is because we were in error or our knowledge was vitally incomplete. God is no enemy of the Truth; He is the enemy of what we call the "truth."
Those who call us "sheep" are right and wrong; right in their assessment, wrong in their negative connotation. We are followers of God, but that is not blind following. To follow God is the exact opposite of blind following, for to follow God is to follow after the Truth. It is to follow with eyes wide open and your mind alert. We are ever and always suspicious of men, governments, organizations, and institutions (even religious institutions) that claim to "know" exactly what is up. Only God knows all, and we are the ones who account for Him when we list all of the facts that we know.
"To not know You
Is to not know,
For we are cut off
From the source of Truth
And all things..."
-Jon Vowell
It is when we think we "know" that God upsets our applecart; when we think all points are accounted for and all loose ends covered, that is when the reality check of God's will crashes through all of our schemes like a sledgehammer. There is only one thing that we can know for sure: what God reveals to us. We can never know anything else for sure about people, circumstances, or events past or present: there will always be one fact that we have not accounted for, one point that we missed; and that singular omission is enough to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. The only sure thing is God: who He is and what He says.
Now, this is not at all to say that we should not acquire knowledge; far from it. God made you a rational soul, and your ability to reason is not to be wasted. However, when our reason makes us think that we know exactly what is up, that is when God will check us, for only He knows exactly what is up, only He can see all ends, only He has accounted for all of the facts, We are often surprised; God is never surprised.
Even what we think we know about God is often checked by Him. We know that He is good (for His word says so), but the moment that we think we know exactly how His goodness will be manifested, God upsets our knowledge; in that instant, we can either die away of denial ("I cannot be wrong!") or let God enlighten our minds with this further revelation of His character. This is not about being a knucklehead; this is about God's children honestly living like He is their ultimate teacher and final authority. All that we know, or think that we know, must fall before Him; and since He is the Truth, Him checking our knowledge is because we were in error or our knowledge was vitally incomplete. God is no enemy of the Truth; He is the enemy of what we call the "truth."
Those who call us "sheep" are right and wrong; right in their assessment, wrong in their negative connotation. We are followers of God, but that is not blind following. To follow God is the exact opposite of blind following, for to follow God is to follow after the Truth. It is to follow with eyes wide open and your mind alert. We are ever and always suspicious of men, governments, organizations, and institutions (even religious institutions) that claim to "know" exactly what is up. Only God knows all, and we are the ones who account for Him when we list all of the facts that we know.
"To not know You
Is to not know,
For we are cut off
From the source of Truth
And all things..."
-Jon Vowell
No comments:
Post a Comment