How Much I Don't Know!

The longer I live and the older I get, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know!

 

 Over the course of my lifetime, I've had opportunity to hear many, many stories from countless people I have met on the journey.  We all have a story to tell.  We have all seen difficult times, times that have stretched us in ways that we thought we would break, times that we have thought we wouldn't live through.  We've all experienced tremendous pain, hurt and disappointments with life.  But we've all experienced tremendous joy, restoration and exultations, too!

 

Every time I think I finally have something figured out, God changes the game plan and I realize I don't have a clue!  And what's even more disconcerting is that God is not at all impressed by my opinions!

 

I carry a very faded piece of pink paper in my Bible.  It's been there for so long, I can't remember when I first put it there.  It says this -

 

"My soul preached to me and said,

'Do not be delighted because of praise,

and do not be distressed because of blame.'

Ere my soul counselled me, I doubted

the worth of my work.

Now I realize that the trees blossom

in spring and bear fruit in summer

without seeking praise; and they

drop their leaves in autumn and become

naked in winter without fearing blame."

 

I have many times sought out this piece of paper and read it to myself.  I have also shared it with many over the years.  I've shared it with mothers who have wondered where they went wrong in raising their children.  I've shared it with mothers who have passed judgment on others' parenting skills.

 

Who are we to take the blame?

Who are we to take the praise?

 

Neither is the right position to take.

If we blame ourselves, we are walking in pride, thinking we should have been able to do better. 
If we praise ourselves, we are walking in pride, thinking we alone did this good thing.

 

The nature of the beast, at least this beast, is to try to figure everything out, wrap it in a very attractive looking package and then set it on the shelf to admire it, thinking we have done a great thing!

 

But, I don't and never will have The Final Word on anything!! 

Yes, God speaks to me and He speaks to you, too.  God speaks through His Word, through people, through nature, through circumstances of life, but just because we've gone through something and experienced God speaking to us in that doesn't mean that that should become the word God speaks to others!!  Whenever we think we have "cornered the market" on God, we are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!

 

Only God has The Final Word! 
He alone is all-knowing, all-seeing and worthy of all praise!

Reminds me of the words to a song by Michael Card -
"You and me we use so very many clumsy words
The noise of what we often say is not worth being heard
When the Father's Wisdom wanted to communicate His love
He spoke it in one final perfect Word.
He spoke the Incarnation and then so was born the Son
His final word was Jesus.  He needed no other one!"

 

Have you ever said something that others thought was very profound?  What was your reaction when they told you they thought it was profound?  Did you pat yourself on the back, thinking how smart and wise you were? 
Or have you ever said something so horrible you wished instantly that you could take back the words?  Did you kick yourself in the pants, thinking you were no good and so ungodly in your speech?

 

Both reactions call for repentance!

 

"Thus says the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?  For all those things has mine hand made, and all those things have been, says the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word."

Isaiah 66:1, 2

 

Who am I to think that I have anything to offer to the Lord that He has not made?!?!

All is grace!

 

So, where am I going with all this?

 

I am called simply to lean hard, depend and rely heavily upon the Lord!

He is the giver of all wisdom.

He is the giver of all grace.
And I am called to point others in that direction, too.

 

And when it's all said and done, we all stand only by His grace alone!

 

"He has shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

Micah 6:8

 

The more I know, the more I realize how much I don't know!! 
And I can't pretend to have the answer for anything! 
Only God does!

"You Are God Alone!"