We were sitting in a huge Filipino church, listening to this incredible pastor start his sermon on the Gospel of John. I was already blown away by the incredible facility we were spending our Sunday morning in when I heard something put so simply I could help but be dumbfounded. “Sometimes people try to logically explain Christianity, but that’s not a problem in Asia, that’s a western problem. In Asia there are so many gods, the question isn’t logic but which one is the real god?” HELLO! *Forehead smack* and a serious shoulder shaking wake up call to all Americans.
What on earth have I been doing, trying to figure out God with my little brain? What are we all doing, minimizing Him that much, thinking infinity can be crammed into the 10% of our brains we use anyways! Our heads can try to figure out his glory and explain his righteousness and mercy but I can guarantee we will eternally fall short. Americans are trained and retrained to rely on ourselves and independent thought, when we are indefinitely rethinking the same things of our ancestors in a more modern context. We aren’t coming up with anything that God didn’t already pre-plan and experience for us, so why do we bother trying to nail it down on our own? Why do we continue to twirl our hair and rattle our brains, when our thoughts have a finish line?
God cannot be crammed into the box that is logical thought. He can’t be forced into a shape that we can fully comprehend. The ways of our thoughts are the ways of this world and the world is not ours to claim. We aren’t called to rely on ourselves to figure out our destinies in this life we are blessed with. We aren’t supposed to do it ourselves. God gave His son up for us so we can give all of ourselves up to Him.
As it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3:
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
The thoughts we can come up with on our own are only scratching the surface of the absolutely unfathomable things that God can speak into our hearts. The more we try to rely on our own understanding, the more we will continue to fall short. We are only human, and He is only infinite. How much of your life is figured out on your own? What percentage of everything are you handing over?
