Not Knowing
I have traveled to quite a few nations in which I do not know the language or the customs. It can be a challenge to be in such situations without someone familiar with such things with you—someone who can speak the language and understand what is actually happening.
Not knowing can be a trying place to find oneself. So it is when it comes to doing life as a disciple. To not know God’s will is to be left in the dark about purpose and what steps to take.
We cannot respond to something we are not aware of, and we cannot show up to something we do not know is happening. Not knowing will often produce unrest in a disciple.
Confidence springs out of knowing with certainty.
When confidence in knowing is lacking in our own lives, we tend to rely on someone else’s knowing. This is why some people desire rules. It leads people to legalism and allows those who have a strong sense of knowing to lord over them.
There is no real freedom in not knowing.
But what are we to know, and who is supposed to make it clear to us?
Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Jesus came to make us sons of the Father so that we could know the Father, who He is, and His ways based on our relationship with Him. Through our relationship, we can know His will for our lives. Knowing His will is another way of saying that we know His desires for us.
Being ignorant of His desires for us leaves us at the mercy of others and what they say we ought to be and do. It subjects us to a dependency on someone else’s knowing. I’m not shirking any accountability in a believer’s life in saying this. We do not get to defy what is clearly revealed as God’s will for believers in Scripture. But when it comes to our own very personal purpose in this life as one of His sons, that is for Him to reveal to us.
Jesus did not give His life to make us clones or subjects of some other man or woman. He gave His life to reconcile us to God and make it possible for us to know God intimately enough to know His will for our lives and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to pursue it.
When this relationship opportunity isn’t taken full advantage of, a person often slips into the rut of following after fads, celebrity personalities, or looking for someone who will tell them what they think they should be or do. They tend to turn mentors into masters and then struggle when they eventually find flaws in the ones they rely on.
Not knowing can be a dangerous place to live. No believer should ever have to live in a place where they do not know God’s will and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to pursue it. Christ did not die to make us slaves of men or sin. He died to set us free from sin and its dominion over us and to bring us to God with the freedom to know and pursue His will. We are slaves of righteousness now! That means we are slaves to being right with God and enjoy Him having the ability to hear His voice for ourselves.
I encourage you not to go one day “Not Knowing” Him and His will for your life.
