Without Knowledge

MONDAY 2.18.08 - JOB 42:2-6
"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Saturday morning, I noted here that one necessary element to my faith was trust. That if I was going to submit to You that it would involve trusting You, trusting that Your will was good, etc. Those thoughts come up to me again as I read today's Lent passage. "No plan of yours can be thwarted," which is really interesting, because basically Your will cannot be stopped. When You will it, it will happen regardless of my agreement, submission, etc.

There's a whole lot that gets bungled up in my mind because of that. But one thing that I recognize is not only do I not understand You completely, because that would be "too wonderful for me to know," I also don't always get to have Your complete will revealed to me either, because that must be "too wonderful" as well.

That's really difficult. But the reason it is difficult is because I want to make decisions about You and us based on a normal human process of reason instead of based on faith. I want to have all the plan laid out before me before I decide whether I'm going to go along with it or not.

This happens to me all the time in school. When I'm teaching, I'll often have a lesson planned that uses the element of surprise. If I tell them the whole lesson plan, or even the point of the lesson early on, it ruins the surprise. But how many times do I have students walk in the door and immediately ask, "What are we doing today?" or "Are we going to have fun today?" There questions could be harmless, even excited and anxious, but they are typically not. Typically they are trying to decide whether or not they are going to give their full attention over to my class or not. As I start to teach what I thought would make for an exciting way of learning, a big surprise lesson, they begin to zone out and only care about the end result. "What's the point." Wow. Even as I type that I begin to realize how sadly I am like that with You.

I guess trusting You is even more than just believing You exist when we can't see You. Trusting You also involves believing in Your plan without knowing the details. Sure, You've given a cursory outline, You're in the business of redemption of all things, but the specifics are constantly being played out in our lives. Let me be one who does not darken Your counsel with words without knowledge. Let me be one who trusts without knowing the final details.

This all takes me back to something I wrote down last week when I was trying to listen for Your Spirit. "Slow down and pay attention." I felt like You were trying to tell me that last week. I think it is still so valid. To be involved with this plan that is "too wonderful" I don't need all the details, I don't need to know the point, I don't need to have the whole thing laid out and then decide...but I should keep an eye and an ear on what's going on. In the end I suspect I will respond with praise!