As we continue our Winter Bible Study we are looking at the second part of our passage; “and know”. Knowledge is a curious endeavor. A wise man once said; “It depends on where you are standing as to how smart you are.” We all feel we know some things, but some of us think they know everything. What do we really know? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Welcome back to our study. The passage we are using this year is short but contains so much for us to reflect on. We are looking at three areas; Be still, Know, and God. Let’s continue as we challenge ourselves to learn how to be still and know God

Psalm 46:10a; NLT; Be still, and know that I am God.

Speaking of know it all’s, I think it is safe to say we all have been exposed to one or two. I think Social Media has emboldened some who really have no clue but hide behind the keyboard and proclaim how much they know. Unfortunately, that only goes to prove, people would not be as bold if they were standing face to face with the person they are ridiculing. What if those they accuse of being deficient asked them to engage their knowledge. It is an axiom of Murphy’s law; nothing is impossible for the person who doesn’t have to do it themselves.

Where am I going with this? Everyone has an opinion, and some are even based on knowledge. Do we even take the time to understand the facts and reality of the situation before we decide we know what’s going on and determine who is right or wrong. In the end, we know very little and probably understand less than we think we know.

Have you ever been there scratching your head trying to figure out what adjustments to make to correct a problem and someone offers you advice? There is no shortage of opinions, some don’t even take into account your expertise, the experience you have and the results you have already achieved. It usually starts with; “all you gotta do …”

We all have sources that we turn to, that we trust to help us when we need advice in life. Part of our experience is knowing who knows what. We learn, usually by making errors, whose advice is true and who is just blowing smoke. The process of gaining knowledge and understanding in life is trial and error.

There are several things, areas, we rely on to gain knowledge. We rely on tradition, or someone else’s knowledge. We rely on our knowledge and understanding. We rely on our experience, what we see happen and observe. The truth is they all have flaws, places where they can let us down.

The first challenge with knowledge is when we are inexperienced. We are just starting out and we haven’t been exposed to many of the things that life throws at us. Maturity is a word used when we have gained experience. Remember that insurance company; “We know a few things because we’ve seen a few things.” Life experience comes only when you have lived life.

Just as knowledge can be flawed, experience can also be flawed; it can be too narrow or two wide. You have heard about the Jack of all trades, master of none. Sometimes our experience is broad, we know a lot about a lot of things, but we really don’t know anything too intimately. The other side of the coin is we can have great experience but it is so focused when we are out of that environment we really have nothing to offer.

I think of all the specialists we have in life. These guys are the best of the best, but only in their specialty. They know everything they need to know about what they are responsible for. Take the medical field, we all have a general doctor, but when something needs special attention, we are referred to a specialist. A medical team is built to deal with our individual issues and also to coordinate and make sure the plan of one doesn’t negate the plan of another.

What happens when we exceed the knowledge or experience of our trusted sources?  We have to lean on someone else’s understanding. We need to trust someone else to guide us. Those are the times we need to be careful of. I have seen many times where people have asked someone for advice that wasn’t honorable or trustworthy. That usually doesn’t end well.

You see, human nature is such that we tend to look out for ourselves before we consider others. We tend to put things in priority that benefits our situation, I’m not saying that is wrong, it is the way things are. We tend to live a self-focused life. We tend to filter things through our world view and that has a way of slanting the advice and direction we give.

Knowledge is good, but it tends to be pursued for the benefit of self. We tend to learn what we think we need to know to live the life we want to live. That is what the world teaches us. That is what we pursue. We pursue knowledge that we determine will benefit us. We discount learning about things we don’t think we will ever need. Remember in High School, Algebra class? What do we need to know this for; We’ll never use it in our life.

I’d encourage you to broaden your horizons, learn something for the sake of learning. Explore something just for the benefit of experiencing something new. We are created with a desire to absorb and understand the environment around us. Desire and learn to know God.

In that endeavor you will discover that things just didn’t happen, creation didn’t evolve. There is a creator, someone responsible for determining the very things that make life possible on this earth. Let us make the effort to know God.

Romans 1:20; NLT; For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Blessings,

Pastor Don