When I was very young, my parents’ favorite question was, “What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?” By the time I was 15, I not only knew the meaning of “no” – I thought I knew everything worth knowing and I was quick to share what I knew with anyone who would listen. At the age of 80, the list of things I don’t know grows longer each day. Not because of faulty memory (thank God), but because I am now quick to admit that there are things I simply cannot wrap my brain around. As one of the wisest of the Greek philosophers, Socrates understood the irony that true wisdom and knowledge begin when we realize how little we know and understand.
A young brother in Christ told me yesterday that he is struggling to understand the things going on in his life right now and how they relate to God’s plan for his life. I told him our finite minds cannot handle the infinite power, mercy and love of God. God told Isaiah, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far above anything you can imagine. For just as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
My wife and I struggled for over 50 years with the fact that we were unable to have children. The words to one of her favorite songs told her, “Farther along we’ll know all about it. Farther along we’ll understand why.” She has had all of the answers for nine years now and I’m still in the dark. until I join her and she can fill me in.