The Benefits of Accepting One’s Limited Understanding is Good

A couple of weeks ago, as I drove home from grocery shopping, I blissfully told God how grateful I was for His goodness in my life. Life was feeling grand for many reasons. For instance, I was enjoying several days off in a row, my daughter and son-in-law were in town for a visit, I had recently purchased a fancy new phone, and a necklace I had won was on its way to my mailbox.

However, as I stopped at a red light, God reminded me of all the people I knew whose lives weren’t as idyllic as mine. The Spirit prompted me to recall the various difficulties of my friends. One battles an unidentified and debilitating illness, several deal with prodigal children, one lost a spouse, one lost his job, one struggles with insurmountable financial woes, and the list kept flowing as the light turned green.

Facing the Unfathomableness of God

As I continued home, I recognized I was once again face to face with the unfathomableness of God. My heart ached as I asked familiar questions of the Lord. Why do you allow heartache? Why don’t you heal everyone? Why do good people suffer?

You, like me, are most likely familiar with a variety of verses that are quoted when we ask questions that don’t seem to have valid answers.

In addition, you probably have felt the continuing ache of your heart after reading those verses. We know them to be true, however we crave a different answer. We want God to swoop in, fix our problems, and rearrange our circumstances so our days are smooth and pain free. We desire the promise in Romans 8:28 (“…God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God…”) to mean we gain a picturesque life filled with only success, peace, and joy.

The wisdom in Proverbs tells us a different story.

An Enhanced Proverbs

Difficult Truth in Proverbs

Solomon teaches us different and more difficult Truth in Proverbs. Over the next three weeks of August, we are going to examine three truths found in Proverbs, chapter three. I can’t personally testify that these truths will eliminate all the tension of living our less-than-ideal lives. I’m learning to live these truths with fresh eyes, and I’m still practicing. I do believe God’s Word is a lamp for us, and He is providing illumination.

Truth: Our Understanding is Limited

It’s foolish for us to believe we know all there is to know. For example, I’ve reached the point in my life where I recognize my daughter is a better cook than me. I taught her the basics, and she went far beyond my skill level. I periodically text her cooking questions, and she graciously responds with a detailed answer. My understanding is limited; therefore, I rely on someone who knows more.

Since our understanding is limited, we struggle to fully grasp Truth, as well as identify what creates the best life. Just consider the filters we all have skewing our perception. Several filter examples are the home we grew up in, our specific education, our self-image, our various experiences of success and failure, social media input, and more. We wrestle because we weren’t created to know all things.

Keep God’s Commands in Your Heart

Solomon clearly tells us in Proverbs 3:5, “do not depend on your own understanding,” and in verse 7, “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”  Solomon provides these wise tidbits so we don’t forsake his instruction to keep God’s commands in our heart (Proverbs 3:1). We must be convinced God’s wisdom is Truth and far greater than our own. We choose obedience to Christ because He is our Lord and Savior, not because it is the obligatory right thing to do.

When we keep God’s commands from our heart, we don’t obey because it’s His requirement. We respond in submission because we recognize He is God Almighty. His thoughts, ideas and wisdom are far greater than anything we can imagine. We comply out of reverence and wonder because of who He is.

God’s Wisdom can be Trusted

Thankfully, God doesn’t ever misuse His wisdom, nor His power. Psalm 84:11-12 says, “For the Lord God is our sun and shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you.” (NLT)

God, in His wisdom, discerns what good thing we absolutely need. We don’t see all the ins and outs like God does. Consequently, we can’t comprehend the necessary good we require. Instead, we must rely on what God teaches us; we must remind ourselves of His Truth. Then, holding Christ in reverence, we listen and obey the Truth He speaks to our hearts.

The Benefits of Accepting our Limitation

When we live into the truth that our understanding is limited, we gain five things.

1. Freedom from the responsibility and anxiety of being in control. We instead release control to God who is Sovereign.
2. We rely more quickly and completely on God. We recognize who we are in comparison to God, and we humble ourselves under His care.
3. We stop assuming and learn to ask better questions. Consequently, we learn truths about ourselves, others, the circumstance, and God Himself.
4. We open the door to curiosity and wonder. We search for fresh insights, new lessons, and diverse ways of approaching circumstances. In addition, we open the door for the Spirit to reveal fresh truth about Himself.
5. We build a stronger community. We learn the importance of asking for help thus blessing others by acknowledging their gifts and abilities, as well as offering them the opportunity to serve in the name of Jesus.

Created to Rely

We were created to rely on God. God supplies the truth we need, even if it’s not the answer we were wanting or expecting. Furthermore, we can trust the truth He provides as being absolute and enough for the moment. He is our creator, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. Recognizing our understanding is limited allows us to fully experience God in all His love, grace, and glory.

Understanding Photo by Zuzana Ruttkay on Unsplash