We all
been there. Someone is trying to explain something to you and after going
through an explanation you respond with; “I don’t get it.”
And, so,
with all of the confidence of an American Ninja Warrior trying to run up the “warped-wall”
one more time, they take another shot at it.
And you
respond once again; “I still don’t get it.”
And they respond
by trying to explain it to you again and you end up being even more confused
and dazed; or was it the other way around…
So how do
you feel? Lost, confused, ashamed, stupid, wondering what is wrong with me…all
the above?
The
problem is that much like anything else that is explained to us, we don’t always
grasp what is being said simply because we don’t always have the same vantage
point as the one who is trying to teach us or explain something to us.
In
Luke 18:31-33, we read a story when Jesus is telling His disciples for the third
time how He is going to die and then be resurrected.
These are men who had been with for
three or more years. These are men who were with the greatest Teacher to have
ever walked the earth. These are men who at any time could ask Him anything!
These are men who were hand selected to be a part of His team…
And
Jesus is trying to make another attempt to get them to understand something
very important.
“Then
He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to
Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son
of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and
will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and
kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
And yet, as we will read, after all
the teachings and all of the time that they spent with Him, they still don’t
understand what He is talking about.
V.34 “But they understood none of these things; this saying
was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.”
After all of the teachings and all
of the time that they spent with Him, even they still don’t understand.
I guess
that means that we also are qualified to be a disciple of Jesus Christ; right?
Yes….But,
let me remind you, the problem is that much like anything else that is
explained to us, we don’t always grasp what is being said simply because we don’t
always have the same vantage point as the one who is trying to teach us or
explain something to us.
I like
how Oswald Chambers puts it:
God called Jesus
Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples
to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their
hearts were broken.
His life was an
absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s.
But what seemed to
be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because
God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose.
This bewildering
call of God comes into our lives as well. The call of God can never be
understood absolutely or explained externally; it is a call that can only be
perceived and understood internally by our true inner-nature.
The call of God is
like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature
of the sea in him. What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated, because
His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes.
Our real test is in
truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not
happen by chance— they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly
working out His own purposes.
If we are in
fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His
purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are.
As we grow in the
Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say,
“I wonder why God allowed this or that?” And we begin to see that the
compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is
divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose.
A Christian is
someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own
abilities.
If we have a purpose
of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should
be characteristic of the children of God.
So the
next time that you find yourself in a quandary because you don’t understand,
remind yourself that you may not be seeing the fuller picture.
Remind
yourself that you are in great company and let the Lord take you to place of
retelling you what you need to know as you once again say; “I don’t understand.”
