I don’t know post it note
Uncertainty is a fact of life. In fact, the older (and wiser) I get, the more I realize how much I don’t know. Like the “new” math students learn in school now is not what I learned in school. I don’t understand – why can’t math just be math??
- Are eyebrows facial hair? No? Why not? It’s on your face.
- Why do banks charge a fee on “insufficient funds” when they know there is not enough?
- Why doesn’t glue stick to the bottle?
- Or Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
At some point in our life, we all face uncertainty. We all have questions about God, the church, Jesus, or religion in general.
- Why does God allow so much pain and suffering in the world?
- Why should I go to church when the church is full of hypocrites?
- The list goes on.
Although many questions can be answered, we may not always like the answer. Other questions, like how did God make the world in 6 days… I don’t know, and I’m okay with it. Here’s the thing, IF we knew everything about God – if there were NO uncertainty, we would be God, and we are not! God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent.
Omnipotent – Omniscient – Omnipresent
Omnipotence means all-powerful. Monotheistic theologians regard God as having supreme power. This means God can do what he wants. It means he is not subject to physical limitations like man is. Being omnipotent, God has power of wind, water, physics, gravity, etc. God’s power is infinite, limitless, or without limit.
Omniscience means all-knowing. God is all-knowing in the sense that he is aware of the past, present, and future. Nothing takes Him by surprise. His knowledge is total and complete. He knows all there is to know and all that can be known. It is impossible to hide anything from God.
Omnipresence means all-present. This means that God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means His divine presence encompasses all of the universe.
Since you or I do not possess ANY of these attributes of God, we certainly can’t have all of the answers to the great questions of life.
As Kathy Vestal says:
“We twist our religion to be about knowledge. We contrive and memorize “facts” about God, dividing ourselves from those who understand differently, making God into our image rather than us in God’s, because our image is all we are humanly capable of understanding. What if we devote our whole life to trying to understand God? Our knowledge will still be but an infinitesimal dot on the infinite picture of who God really is. We are part of creation, not designed for that kind of comprehension”
Read, study, and ask questions of various people to learn all you can. Gain wisdom. But don’t let your lack of understanding keep you distant from the best relationship you will ever have – a relationship with the Creator. Yes, God himself wants a real loving relationship with you.
“A religion that is small enough for our understanding would not be big enough for our needs.” –Corrie Ten Boom