The limits of our understanding - Hope 103.2

The limits of our understanding

By David ReayMonday 2 Sep 2013LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes

Transcript:

Read Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart;
   don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do,everywhere you go;
   he’s the one who will keep you on track. (THE MESSAGE)

It seems to be part of our human condition to want to master our circumstances. To get to some level of understanding so we can exercise mastery and control over what faces us. If only we can figure out this problem or resolve this dilemma we will be OK.

There are two problems with that. One is the fact that we can never actually reach the point of adequate understanding. Just as we face and meet one challenge another one presents itself. And let’s face it,some things are totally beyond our understanding.

Another problem is that it leaves God out of the picture. As this text reminds us,we need God’s help to live rightly. We trust in the Master,not our own real or imagined mastery. We don’t assume we have to understand life in order to live it fully. We don’t assume we have to figure God out before we can trust him. Any God we reckon we have ‘figured out’ is likely to be a creation of our imagination in any case.

Certainly we use the mental faculties God gives us: we don’t kiss our brains goodbye once we trust in God. But we use those faculties under the guidance and direction of the God who gave them to us. We ask him for his wisdom. We acknowledge our own limitations of wisdom and understanding. In doing so,we become truly wise.

Blessings
David Reay