Get Used to Not Knowing Stuff

Israel was privileged to receive the Law of God. They were set apart from all nations by this law. Their law is the basis for many of our civil laws today. You cannot find another collection of ancient writings that so thoroughly empower a people to grow wise and live long. God tells them this about the law in the beginning of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 4:6–8 (ESV) Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

YET... in spite of this great revelation given to the people of Israel, there were some things God was not going to reveal. This would be part of their experience in growing to trust Him.

Notice what God sums up for them in the last verse of Deuteronomy 29:

Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV) “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

I don't think there is a more tantalizing word in the English language than "secret." As soon as you say it, people want in on it. Tell them plainly what you know and they shrug. Tell them you know a secret and they are instantly engaged. It's the power of not knowing what someone says you cannot know that entices the human heart. Think back to Eden. It was not knowing good and evil that sent humanity into the spiral of sin we are in today. 

God makes it clear for Israel, there are somethings they will now know. As much as this nation was to know the Lord and walk in His wisdom above and beyond all other nations, there was still some things God would keep to Himself. It is an important part of being human. At our very best and under the best circumstances, we still need to leave many things in the hand of God. 

I loved Warren Wiersbe's comment on this text:

"Our responsibility as God’s people isn’t to try to pry open the doors of the future but to obey God’s will here and now."

Part of being human is rightly handling our limitations. We are not the all-knowing God. We are not sovereign and we do not have absolute control over our lives. What we are to do is trust that God is leading us rightly with what He has revealed. We obey and are blessed and the rest is in His hands. 

I wonder if it this part of humanity that drives the secularist to disbelief the most. The fact that he cannot know all must infuriate him and harden his heart. We humans do not take well to the word, "No" or "This far and no further." 

But it's this reality that leads to a greater experience of God's goodness. He will take care of what we do know. We NEED ONLY worry about what He has shared with us. 

So what do we do? We take care to obey what He has said to us now. We take care to trust His guidance when we fear what obedience may mean. We learn that He is trustworthy and good. Always.

Obey. Trust. Repeat. 

Amen.