Being Comfortable With Ignorance

“O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.” (Da 4:9 AV)

Apparently, Daniel had gotten the reputation of an even temper when it came to mysteries.  He didn’t stress over that which others could not discern.  For the most part, his lack of anxiety was a result of the LORD revealing those secrets to Daniel.  However, as the reader will learn in the following chapters, there were times Daniel was given visions of his own and he did become troubled in his heart.  Troubled enough to fast and pray for an answer.  These visions were given to him and thus and explanation would have been expected.  So, of course, he would show a bit of concern over the meaning of what he saw.  However, when it came to the visions or secrets shown to others, he wasn’t all that anxious.  The word for troubleth here means, to oppress, compel, or constrain; distress.  In other words, secrets did not tie him up in knots and cause him distress if he couldn’t figure them out of if the LORD did not reveal their meaning to him.  In short, our prophet took the secrets of God in stride.  If he was meant to know what they meant, the LORD in time would show the meaning.  If not, they would remain a mystery.

I don’t know if I have related this story, so if I have, bare with me.  My mother’s parents, Grandpa and Grandma B, has a beautiful old home.  Their living room had an ornate mantle and sides surrounding a smaller brick fireplace.  As children are apt to do, I began exploring.  This woodwork held a special interest to me.  The woodwork is hard to explain.  It looked like hand-carved artwork you might find in an old Elizabethan building.  Not mere straight lines and angles.  Rather, artwork like leaves and other figures were carved into it.  They had a small chiming clock that sat on the mantle but was moved to the dining room to put it out of the reach of little hands.  This wood was a darker wood.  Like a dark maple or mahogany.  My grandmother kept it dusted and polished.  On one such visit, I was enamored with this woodwork.  I examined it rather thoroughly.  Where the mantle and the side met, I noticed a small opening.  Not much larger then my hand, I stuck it in there and found something.  Pulling it out it appeared to be a wallet.  I thought I had found a hidden treasure of generations of the past.  Perhaps a part of history now lay in my hands.  Looking inside, I found a bunch of money.  Thinking I had discovered buried treasure, I took it to my Grandfather and showed him what I had found in his fireplace.  I thought I had found a treasure that would pay all his bills.  Instead, what I had found was his secret stash.  I was completely and wholly chastised for snooping where I didn’t belong.  There was a secret I was not supposed to know.

Being comfortable with knowing that we cannot know everything is a hard lesson to learn.  Especially when it involved matters of personal interest.  Not knowing the details of our future may cause anxiety.  If we did know our future, it might cause more anxiety than not knowing.  Being resolved with the fact we are blind and cannot see all we wish to see goes a long way in exercising the faith which we are supposed to be exercising.  Fear of the unknown is a common fear.  We want to know everything we can possibly know about anything that might concern us.  The opposite is summed up in the familiar says, “Ignorance is bliss.”  The reality is, there should be a happy medium.  There has to be a desire to know all things that concern us that is possible to know.  However, we have to come to grips that all things cannot be known.  So, Daniel was known as the aged man who knew when the draw the line in knowing what can be known and being comfortable in accepting that he cannot know every secret.