Blessed Ignorance

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? [It is] as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof [is] longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.” (Job 11:7-9 AV)

Let me ask a question.  If you could know God to the fullest, would you want to?  There is something to be said for ignorance.  Not that we ever could know God to the fullest.  To do so would require we become like God.  We would need to have all His attributes for us to truly know Him and He is known to Himself.  If that were to occur, God would cease to be God.  He cannot deny Himself.  Therefore, it is impossible to know God to the fullest.  And that is a good thing!

We may not comprehend exactly how weather works.  We can predict weather to a relative certainty, but not exactly.  Otherwise, there would be no loss of life.  No deaths from tornados.  No loss of life from hurricanes.  No loss of life from tsunamis.  If weather was completely predictable down to every detail, there would be no loss of anything.  We could live and move as the weather moves.  We may not like the weather, but weather is necessary.  It is comforting to know there is rain or snow in the clouds.  It is a piece of good news when the seasons change.  We enjoy the colors of the fall, the crispness of winter, the freshness of spring, and the heat of summer.  We may not understand every detail of every material thing down to the cellular level.  But we can appreciate the material universe and enjoy what it has to offer.  Flying on an airplane, I may not understand the principles of aerodynamics.  But I can appreciate someone knew enough about that science to design a plane that, even if it lost some functionality, could still land safely.  These things are too high for me.  I cannot attain unto it.  The nature of being more complicated than I can understand is not a threat to me.  It is a comfort to me.  I don’t have to understand how molecules work.  I have a doctor that does.  I am secure in the fact he is able to know what I cannot know.  I don’t have to know how a plane flies.  We have a pilot who has it all under control.  I don’t have to know how weather works.  I have forecasters who can do that for me.

The same is true of life.  There is no way we can understand it all.  That is where faith comes in.  Knowing that we cannot fully know God is a good thing!  That requires we know Him by faith.  That means we can surrender our lives, and the events of our lives, to someone who is greater than we can ever comprehend.  When we fly on a plane, we can react in one of two ways.  We can be a nervous wreck because we cannot control every aspect of that flight, or we can reason the pilot has done flown thousands of times and never lost a plane or passenger.  We can let go of our worries and leave it to the pilot.  We have never met him.  We know nothing of him.  Yet, if we trust him, he will get us from one place to another without too much trouble.  Not knowing, in a sense, can be more assuring than knowing.  Surrendering to ignorance can be more peaceful than fighting it.  I, for one, am grateful I cannot know God as He knows Himself.  That means my life, and the events of my life, are fully in someone infinitely greater than myself.  Praise be to His name!