When I was a wee child, I was ecstatic at the thought that one day I would be able to move from taking baths to taking a shower. When that day came, I felt so old! I turned on the water all by myself and was able to independantly wash myself, dry myself and put my own clothes on. I’m a big kid now!!
What no one knows is that for a couple of years, I took cold showers. Perhaps I never knew there was such a thing as hot water in a shower. Perhaps my parents neglected letting me know I could enjoy a hot shower to save on the water heating bill! Either way, I was blissfully ignorant and continued with my cold showers. I’m not sure at what point I realized I could take a hot shower. But let’s just say I haven’t taken a cold shower by choice since that day.
I believe I don’t know everything.
I am such a limited being. I would love to tell you I know everything there is to know. But most days I have “cold shower” moments. I am allowed the knowledge of some things, but there is another realm of knowledge I cannot attain.
When I think of my own life, I would love to have God spell out his plans for me clearly in the sky. Even thinking beyond next year I would love to know where I will be and what I will be doing. But I don’t have that luxury. No matter where I am in life, there is always the quesiton of the unknown. But we do have this to claim.
Peppered throughout my little worn black Bible are blue post-it notes. I made these when I worked on the sailboat last year. I looked at a map of the world I had pinned up next to my bed and was crying out to the Lord. I knew my passion was for the nations, but I also felt a strong calling to stay put for one year. I didn’t know what he had in store for me and it made me nuts. So I wrote these verses on the small blue post it notes.
“Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3
“A mans steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?” Proverbs 20:24
“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” Proverbs 4:25-26
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” proverbs 16:9
Some of my post-its have fallen out of my Bible. Some stick to random pages. But they are there to remind me that I may not know everything. In fact, I absolutely do not know everything! But I know the one who knows everything there is to know about anything. And in him, my future is secure.
