What God Expects US to Know

Through general observation, I noticed Christians frequently suffer from self-induced conceptual confinement regarding how they should engage life’s ordinary challenges. Moreover, I hereby publically acknowledge that I am one of those afflicted. To explain, we allow apprehension to torment us. Then decide we want to receive an answer directly from God to the question…what is my destiny? Such a simple question, yet it embodies tremendous consequence. The question usually lingers until weighing heavily in our spirit. Then come to realize we’ve dug our way blindly into a pit of despair where no longer can we see what’s impeccably, or immediately in front of us, which is exactly where our destiny begins.

Examine this common question, for example (I believe we’ve all asked it at some point)- who is my soul mate?...and why won’t God answer me this? Okay, I believe the question we should ask at this point is does God answer all our simple questions or does He expect us to answer some of them on our own, knowing fully well that the answers already indwell us? When we undertake this cross-section approach, we may discover we already hold the answer to our prayers. The rigid problem that compels us to think God isn’t listening or answering us is that we refuse to accept the answers we have. We want a different one. However, in recognition of this self-indulgency, we should respond by submitting to God’s will and concurrently squashing our own. Now, to restate the question in a more suitable fashion, I might ask this way- Is there someone in my life right now who fits the bill but whom I overlook?... and if not, is it better that way? In this manner, we might be surprised at the answers we come up with or we might not, but either way, we should feel less conflicted by the annoying question once we become familiar with the answers, like them or not. When we love God, we can most assuredly believe that the answers we dislike now will be answers we find most precious in the end. Now let’s try another question.

What is my niche in life; in other words, what are the personal characteristics God wants me to develop and share with those around me? Often, this question goes hand-in-hand with the famous--what should exemplify my career goals? However more importantly, do we already know the answer? I think what stops most people from accepting what they already know in this case is a social-economic expectancy standard (sort of like the idea of “political correctness”). We all want to achieve admiration. But wait, is that appropriate? We should all check our egos from time to time. Desiring admiration in such respect indicates self-indulgence. Note that by becoming aware of and removing that obstacle the answer to our question draws nearer.

Financial security also represents a fundamental aspect in our search for the “right niche,” or “right career,” whether we want it to or not, and from here, we can break down our inquisition to where answerable questions come to light rather than expecting God to deliver miraculous insights. Remember, we got this :D What exactly do we need?--Cloths, shelter, food, water, relationships. --I added relationships where most scholars probably would not because whether it’s obvious to most or not, relationships are the fruit of our spirit. Those who live need them.-- Now then, we wonder, how can I begin to meet those needs starting from my current position? As one can probably notice, by breaking down the BIG questions, it becomes clearer to us that we already own the answers and the world looks less intimidating.

Furthermore, in case you haven’t yet perceived an even larger pattern emerging here, it is that we humans tend to self indulge and expect God to work miracles on our indulging behalves, but that is not how He works, and it is not what we should expect. Everyone experiences moments of improper perception, but we assume responsibility to reexamine how we think and come back into agreement with Him who created us. God had already endowed us with the right answers to our questions. We need to accept them and cultivate them in order to produce the fine fruits that satisfy our cravings. A smart one once said, “to be alive means to not know [the future].” In other words, life blossoms from uncertainties. If we already perceived every result, there would exist nothing to hope and thus, no joy, no life.