All my life, I have never been satisfied with knowing that something is the case without knowing why it is the case. Many people are perfectly content to simply hear the facts and move on, and sometimes I envy that position. The reality is we do not always have the necessary information to know why things are as they are. When you are like me, this can present a great deal of frustration. This issue got the best of me in my eighth-grade math class when my teacher demanded a very laborious method of “showing our work” when doing equations. In essence, each equation was a half-page written assignment which made no sense to me at all. In retrospect, I should have simply jumped through the hoops and succeeded in the class, but at thirteen years old, I was unwilling to jump. On the other hand, if the teacher had given me a reason why the work needed to be shown in this way, I would have likely been more motivated to do the work.
Needing to know what the point is can likewise promote frustration over our curiosities surrounding the Bible and those questions for which God did not choose to reveal clear answers. There are three principles from the Bible I believe will help us overcome the frustration of not knowing all we wish to know about God, our nature, our purpose, our destiny, etc. The first of these principles is the fact that God’s thoughts and ways are exponentially greater than ours. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than yours.’” The essential take away from this is so much of His will and ways are beyond the reach of our carnal minds. Much of the truth we could not bear (cf. Jn. 16:12).
This truth brings us to the second key to contentment with God’s revelation, realizing our dependence upon God to reveal His higher thoughts and ways to us. Paul speaks at length of this reality in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Not thinking as He thinks is the reason the rulers of the day put Christ on the cross (vv. 6-8). Thankfully, God has revealed His wisdom to us, through the vehicle of the apostles and prophets (vv. 9-16; Eph. 3:1-5), thus enabling us to think as He thinks and live as He desires us to live. This revelation, however, is not exhaustive which brings us to the final piece of the puzzle of contentment with what God has shared with us.
Think how big the volume of Scripture would be if God had revealed everything we collectively wish He had. Like John said of trying to just write everything Jesus did in His earthly life, if God satisfied all our curiosities in Scripture, “…if they were written one by one, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (Jn. 21:25). For this cause, we must be content to live within the framework of what is written (1 Cor. 4:6; 2 Jn. 9-11). To do this, we need to remember two passages concerning God’s selective revelation.
First, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Pt. 1:3). So, while the revelation is not exhaustive of every possible question, it is absolutely all we need to please God and have eternal life (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15-17). Second, we need to internalize Deuteronomy 29:29 and know that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” God was and is not obligated to satisfy our curiosity. Thankfully, His immense love for us prompted Him to reveal what we need to be content in His service and granted access to the tree and water of life in the paradise He has prepared for the faithful (Rev. 22:1-2, 17). We simply must come eat and drink the life He gives!
Needing to know what the point is can likewise promote frustration over our curiosities surrounding the Bible and those questions for which God did not choose to reveal clear answers. There are three principles from the Bible I believe will help us overcome the frustration of not knowing all we wish to know about God, our nature, our purpose, our destiny, etc. The first of these principles is the fact that God’s thoughts and ways are exponentially greater than ours. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than yours.’” The essential take away from this is so much of His will and ways are beyond the reach of our carnal minds. Much of the truth we could not bear (cf. Jn. 16:12).
This truth brings us to the second key to contentment with God’s revelation, realizing our dependence upon God to reveal His higher thoughts and ways to us. Paul speaks at length of this reality in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Not thinking as He thinks is the reason the rulers of the day put Christ on the cross (vv. 6-8). Thankfully, God has revealed His wisdom to us, through the vehicle of the apostles and prophets (vv. 9-16; Eph. 3:1-5), thus enabling us to think as He thinks and live as He desires us to live. This revelation, however, is not exhaustive which brings us to the final piece of the puzzle of contentment with what God has shared with us.
Think how big the volume of Scripture would be if God had revealed everything we collectively wish He had. Like John said of trying to just write everything Jesus did in His earthly life, if God satisfied all our curiosities in Scripture, “…if they were written one by one, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (Jn. 21:25). For this cause, we must be content to live within the framework of what is written (1 Cor. 4:6; 2 Jn. 9-11). To do this, we need to remember two passages concerning God’s selective revelation.
First, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Pt. 1:3). So, while the revelation is not exhaustive of every possible question, it is absolutely all we need to please God and have eternal life (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15-17). Second, we need to internalize Deuteronomy 29:29 and know that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” God was and is not obligated to satisfy our curiosity. Thankfully, His immense love for us prompted Him to reveal what we need to be content in His service and granted access to the tree and water of life in the paradise He has prepared for the faithful (Rev. 22:1-2, 17). We simply must come eat and drink the life He gives!