Message: The verse that spoke to me the strongest today was Luke 9:44-45. Jesus was telling his disciples that he was going to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He actually told them to “let these words sink in” but verse 45 tells us that they didn’t understand because this was being concealed from them and they couldn’t grasp it. So on one hand, Jesus told them to let it sink in, but on the other hand Jesus knew this was being concealed from them intentionally and they wouldn’t understand it- for now. Jesus was counting on the fact that after the resurrection they would see things much more clearly. They were not expected to figure it out then, and if they had tried they would have never in a million years gotten it right-even with all of the prophetic background. They had just enough info to confirm it was true, but not enough insight to fill in the gaps to understand.
Command: Read the word and let it sink in deep, but stop trying to “figure it out” and fill in the gaps.
Promise: When the timing is right God will fill in the gaps and give me the understanding for what is necessary for me to know.
Warning: If I try to fill in the gaps on my own with the information I have, I will come up short and misguided. When I think I have things figured out I can make some dangerous assumptions that lead me the wrong way.
Application: This passage reminded me of every time I thought I had something figured out. I have seen the same thing happen to people I care about who have taken the limited information they had to try and understand a purpose or motive for something difficult that happened in life. We all feel like we can process pain and grief better when we know there is a purpose. The problem is that when we think we have figured out THE purpose or motive it sets up an unwritten set of rules or patterns that we then try to apply to other situations. This is SO dangerous! We have to be ok with trusting that we don’t know the fine details and even if we did, we don’t have the mind of God to understand them, and we were not intended to. We have to trust that God will reveal only what we are supposed to be responsible for and he wants us to trust him for the rest.
