As we continue the topic “Give Us This Day,” today Patti talks about the need for us wanting to know all the details. Many times as humans, we get so caught up in wanting to know that we don’t rely on God to work out all the details.
It is never easy to try to unravel the meaning of things while in the midst of the story. That’s why I don’t read mysteries. I want to know what’s going on right from the beginning. I want the who, why, how, what and when right up front. That’s why I don’t read mysteries. I have skipped to the end and read the final chapter only to be disappointed because I don’t understand how the ending came to be. It’s a no-win situation trying to outsmart a mystery. You just have to read through it to get the full picture.
So, I choose to not read mysteries.
But life does not provide us a pass from some of the mysteries of life. We can’t just choose to not read life. It’s with us every day and it unravels moment by moment whether we like it or not. I often will try to figure out what is going on with particular circumstances and more times than not will drag my husband into the “wondering” game. He will listen for a bit and try to guide my thoughts away from trying to figure it all out.
Finally, he will announce “It’s just above my pay grade to know. God is God and I am not.”
Just recently I had come upon a rather discouraging time in ministry. I could make no sense out of what was happening and was losing sleep over the “wondering and trying to figure it out.”
Finally, one night while laying in bed, I just let out a big sigh. It was my way of telling God and I suppose myself, that it was all above my pay grade and that He was God and I was not.
Soon after that, circumstances that had once been a mystery all started to become clear. Parts and pieces started to come together and there were answers to the who, why, what, when and how.
God was revealing the mysteries of the circumstances at just the right time so that I could understand at just the right time for the right reasons.
Those things that had seemed so disjointed now had purpose. Those things that had seemed so mysterious now had meaning. The details that were so cloudy were now sharp. It all made sense.
God had been working a mystery behind the scenes and was not yet ready to reveal it to me for understanding. Once I sighed and gave up my efforts, He was able to finish the work and get me ready for the reveal.
When we try to understand things above our pay grade we are often frustrated and may even become angry or apathetic. Why try if we are not going to understand, we think. But God is daily feeding us the parts and pieces to the whole that we can understand and at just the right time, he brings it all together.
Getting ahead of myself and of God is always a problem. I am learning to avoid the “wondering” game and let God bring my daily understanding one piece at a time. Then just like on the HGTV shows, the big reveal is exciting and exhilarating because we know that God has been working the full picture for our benefit. And as we walk each step of the details that we now understand, we can truly enjoy the finished product. A mystery no more.
He gives us our daily bread!
— Patti
I am so thankful we serve a God that knows the perfect time to reveal things to us as His children.
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