Graduating From Needing To Know
I like to know what's going on.
And I don't think that makes me a control freak. (Though I’ve possibly been accused of such.) I mean:
I'm okay if the kids are out later than expected. As long as I know where they are
I don't mind if my plans get changed. As long as I know why, and how I can fix things.
I enjoy an unplanned weekend. As long as I have a list of items I can accomplish in my free time.
The reigning uncertainty is hard on us planners. I can’t plan when I don’t know what’s next.
Graduating From Needing to Know
Just like I needed to graduate from normal (check out that post), I must also graduate from needing to know.
Because, right now, I really don't know what's going to happen next. I don't know when more businesses will open up. I don't know if when things open up, people will return. I don't know if summer will feel normal only to have the virus re-emerge next fall and winter, and the shutdowns reoccur.
Like I said: It's hard to be a planner in such times.
In 2nd Chronicles, the people of Israel find themselves surrounded by an invading horde. At least they could look out from the walls to see their enemy encamped around them.
We can't see the virus. it. Right now, very few people in my area are sick, so it's hard to imagine that the virus is still there. How do I know what is happening?
Whether we see our enemy or it’s invisible, there's one thing we can know. God sees everything that is happening. Just look at what Jehoshaphat says,
O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." [2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV]
I’m faced with the question.When I don't KNOW what’s going on, can I trust the God who does? I guess that's the solution to not knowing. it's easy for me to talk about my faith when it’s philosophical and esoteric. But it’s time I graduate from a theoretical faith to a real faith.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1 ESV]
Can I graduate from needing to know what's going on and then walk in faith with Jesus? Of course, I want my answer to be, “Absolutely!” But I must graduate from control, and normal, and the expected, and from needing to know. All of those things rely on me. And you know what? They’re exhausting, even if they give me false comfort.
I don't know what's going to happen next.
I don't know if the virus will return.
I don't know if the government is going to grasp at the extra control that it has exerted in the last few months.
I don't know if the economy is going to rebound.
I don't know if the death toll will rise.
I don't know if someone that I love will catch this terrible virus.
I don't know.
But I know the Knower.
Time To Graduate
I'm going to have to grow up and graduate in order for that to be enough. I'm going to have to walk in the faith that believes in what I cannot see, and that trusts the One who does know, and that does not look for security in having things figured out.
Church, we have to graduate and grow up. We have to trust the one we the one that knows. The one who sees. The one who hears. The one he shapes the path of the world for his own designs.
You want to join me?
Let’s graduate from needing to know.
Let’s graduate from what we expect.
I don't know what will happen next. But I know Jesus. He is my graduation gift.