"He Knows"

"He Knows"  

    Mercifully, God did not bestow eternal, infinite knowledge to the human race when He created us.

    "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1).

    How would we cope if we knew the realities and events of our lives before they occurred?  What if we knew the blessings our Lord would bestow?  Or the pain He would allow or administer?  Or the myriad of mundane moments when nothing seemed to occur?  What if we knew when and how our earthly lives would end?  What if we knew all?

   Intimidation might be our first response to such knowledge.  Our primary focus would likely involve the challenges of life.  How will I deal with that when it happens????  Surely our ignorance regarding pains and losses to come serves us well.  Our Heavenly Father did not equip us with certainty regarding future challenges.  We know a little, of course, and we plan as well as possible to be ready for the difficulties to come.  "A man's heart deviseth his way" (Proverbs 16:9).  No absolute certainty regarding the future exists in the human mind, however, thus delivering us from the constant dread that would accompany such knowledge.

   Regarding the blessings of life, we might find it pleasant and sometimes even exciting to know God's gifts to come in this present life.  I'm not sure, however, that we would enjoy them as much as we think.  Human beings find much delight in the unexpected.  Many of the greatest gifts we've received, whether from God or people, graced us unexpectedly.  Indeed, "unexpected favor" is one of the definitions of the word "grace" .  "And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God… they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did" (Luke 9:42-43).  Full knowledge of gifts to come would exclude much of our amazement and wonder, while also robbing our hymnody of perhaps its greatest musical blessing.  "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!"

   Of course, much of life seems ordinary, mundane, and not particularly characterized by gifts or challenges.  How would we view the repetition that characterizes our lives if we could foresee the commonplace?  What if we knew how many times the dishes would need washed, or the grass cut, or we would be required to perform the everyday duties on the job that often seem mindless and meaningless?  What if we could see the moments of our lives before they happen, discovering that "boring" seems an apt adjective for a large portion of our existence?  This would prove very difficult, and perhaps almost as ominous as foreknowing our troubles.

   Our perfectly wise Father knew better than to give us more capacity for knowledge than we can handle.  Most importantly, our limitations lead us to Him, the boundless One who does see the past, present, and future as if they were but one moment.  "His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5).  We rest our hearts in the fact that He knows, rejoicing that the One to whom we have committed our trust possesses both eternal knowledge and the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional fortitude to more than cope with infinite understanding.  He rather utilizes such knowledge as the God that He is, and in the fulfillment of purposes so eternal in nature that only One who perfectly knows eternity could accomplish them…

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"

(Romans 11:33)

Weekly Memory Verse

   He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

(Proverbs 11:28)