I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My Lord what will
the outcome of all this be?” Daniel 12:8
In a flash I am back in time. There I am, a small child at a large family gathering amidst all the activity, food and chaos, hearing the adults in conversation all around and feeling confused and frustrated at my inability to understand some of the words they were speaking. In my childhood innocence not only did I feel left out, but also a little frightened. Uncertainty prevailed as thoughts and questions swirled in my head. What were they talking about? Who were they talking about? Was something bad about to happen? Was something in life going to change? I looked to my parents and depended upon them for reassurance that everything was alright. But the child in me longed for a time when I would be “big enough” to know; “big enough” to independently understand all that I heard.
We hear that knowledge is power and that power is in the comprehension of the world around us. What we understand brings us security and growth. When we comprehend our environment, we feel safe and feel we have some control over it by having the ability to make well informed choices and decisions. But even with all the knowledge available to us, there is still much we do not understand; there are in fact some things I feel certain that I will never “get;” for example: law or insurance data, no matter how many times I listen to the rhetoric. But more importantly, I know that I will never fully comprehend evil, or war, or suffering, or even death, in this life.
God tells us in Scripture through Daniel, that some things are not for our complete understanding until the time is right for that knowledge to come to us; for understanding only occurs in God’s perfectly planned time, not ours. Yet we want answers now; we want to know the outcome; we want to control. In faith we wait, at the same time continuing to search out the answers we seek - as well we should! So we question and doubt and even feel the same kind of uncertainty and anxiety that we did as little children, when we were unable to "understand." Obviously our knowledge is childlike at this juncture in life for a reason. With faith, our search to comprehend will lead us directly to God. Our loving Father is there for us to turn to for reassurance and direction. We are His. We can trust that He will reveal the knowledge we need at the appropriate time; then all will be made perfectly clear to us.
God, we listen to so much that we do not comprehend! Please reassure us that true understanding will come from you in your perfectly planned time.
Copyright© 2013 Kathleen A. Matson