Our God is a God of mystery. We believers can know Him, yes, but we will not know everything about Him or His ways beyond what He has explicitly shown us through His Word and His Son. We must have the humility to realize that even when we hear His words, we might not understand what He is saying. Here is an example.

When I bowed my knee to Him at that church service in Boot Camp in 1975, it was mind-blowing. I was overwhelmed with the perceived Presence of Jesus – it was like Jesus was standing right next to me. I distinctly heard Him say, “I have a ministry for you.” I immediately assumed that I was going to be a Pastor, or perhaps a Minister of Music in a church somewhere, given my musical ability. For the next 15 years or so, I pursued those vocations, utterly convinced that was what He meant when He told me He had a ministry for me. Years after that, God revealed to me through circumstances and my wife (never discount a Godly wife) that I had a two-fold ministry.

Ministry #1 – I had a family. They were my primary focus. I was called to love my wife and raise God-fearing children. This is no small thing, and true ministry.

Ministry #2 – I became a music instructor at my current church, training and influencing succeeding generations of worshipper-believers. That is what I am involved in right now. 

I have never been more fulfilled and more at peace than I have since embracing my ministry as a husband, father, and music teacher. 

The point I am making is this: I thought I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what this “ministry” was that God had for me. I was as certain about that as Paul’s opponents were about their perceived place in God’s Kingdom. I had heard God’s Words correctly, but I had misinterpreted them. Paul’s Jewish opponents knew what God’s Words SAID, but they had missed what they MEANT.

This is the humility that we are called to as Christ-Followers. As we walk through our days, we do our best to discern what God says, and we obey to the best of our ability, all the while realizing that we do not know everything, and indeed may be mistaken about many things.

I am NOT saying everything is up for grabs. There are certain things I know for a rock-solid fact.

Christ’s death and resurrection – not up for debate.

My redemption and inclusion into the family of God – not up for debate.

My permanent place in the family of God – not up for debate.

There are other things in our culture that are not up for debate in my eyes. Another conversation for another time.

What IS up for debate are the day-to-day dealings with God and the world around me. What is God saying to me NOW? What does the Word of God say about this thing or that thing? I do my dead-level best to understand what I read in the Bible and to apply what I read to how I live, but I have “known” so many things throughout the years that I had been so certain about that turned out to be completely wrong, that I have no choice but to humbly bow before Him and confess as Paul does in Romans chapter 11:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”(Romans 11:33, NIV)

Job’s confession would not be a bad passage to memorize in light of what I just wrote:

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:2-6, NIV)

Job, alongside Paul, ultimately recognizes that God’s ways are beyond his understanding. Their confession is essentially, “I was speaking about things I didn’t really understand.”

Job gets it. Paul gets it. At 70 years of age (as of this writing), I am beginning to get it. That is the issue that the Jews of Paul’s day had to contend with. They knew what God SAID… but they did not understand what He MEANT.

Here is the YouTube Link:

Call to Humility

The Spotify Link:

Call to Humility

In His Grip…

Paige