Human Understanding...

Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (KJV)

 

On a "normal" Sunday morning at this time I am preparing to leave for church but due to freezing rain and sleet we chose to dismiss our service today. We chose to err on the side of safety and caution yet it does feel strange to be setting in front of my computer at this time on a Sunday morning and typing these words. I am sitting here because I truly believe that I was awakened by the Lord at 4:00 AM and He begin to reveal some thoughts/teachings or understanding in my spirit. The Spirit began to unfold in my heart some knowledge that I believe I need to share with you through this blog. I plan on emailing a link to this blog to our local church attendees because I feel that strong about the content. This will be my Sunday morning sermon minus the inflection of my voice but it will still contain my passion to know God in a deeper and fuller manner.

 

The second part of Proverbs 3: 5 is what the Spirit brought to my attention earlier this morning; "...and lean not unto thine own understanding." (KJV) This is where the teaching of the Spirit began for me and it is where I would like to begin sharing with you. We made the decision early last evening to dismiss our service today based on the human knowledge of the weather forecasters. BUT their level of knowledge and understating had already changed by bedtime last night. They had downgraded the strength and impact of the storm and it appeared that it would not be as bad as they once had declared. I was somewhat frustrated and even disappointed in their statement although in the long term this new forecast will prove more beneficial to our area of the country. We were already recovering from an ice and snow storm on Friday. I should have been rejoicing but I realized that we had made our decision for Sunday based on what we heard on Saturday and the information that we heard had already been adjusted from the time that we first had received it. I trust that you can understand the flow of my concerns/thoughts in the previous statement. I quickly began to be reminded of the fact that our human understanding is very limited and can change quickly as more information becomes available. I already knew that fact to be true but this storm and the decision to cancel our Sunday service would be a tool that God would use to teach me to wait on Him and trust in Him regardless of the circumstances that may be taking place in my life or in the lives of my family and friends. God is always in charge even when our human understanding is limited or even challenged.

 

This morning the Spirit began to take me to some situations in which God intervened and worked contrary to human understanding and in some cases God even confounded human understanding. John 6 reveals the story of the multitude who needed to be fed. Read how Simon Peter describes the supplies that he has found in the crowd; “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" This comment is based on his human understanding of the situation. But notice the action of Jesus once He becomes involved in the situation. Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹ And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” The ability and power of God overcame the need that was present among the people. John 11 shares with us the story of Lazarus. Lazarus has become ill and the family sends for Jesus. Jesus arrives after Lazarus has died. As a matter of fact he has been dead for four (4) days upon the arrival of Jesus. Jesus issues this request after some discussion with the family of Lazarus; “Where have you laid him?” Jesus issues this command at the conclusion of a discussion with the family of Lazarus; "Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” The resurrection power and authority of Christ overcame the power of illness and death. This was also proven once again at the Resurrection of Christ after His crucifixion.

 

Mark 9 shares with us a story of a parent with an ill child. Read the words of the father as he speaks with Jesus; “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 

¹⁸ And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” I truly believe that the disciples wanted to assist this child as well as the father of the child but their ability was limited. But we must remember that the ability of God is never limited regardless of the circumstances that we are facing. Jesus engages this parent in a discussion and shares these principles of faith; "Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” You can read the full story in Mark 9 but the end result of this story is that the child is delivered from the oppression of this illness and difficulty.

 

Here is what I feel that I need to leave with you today. Never, ever, give up regardless of the circumstances that you are facing. Never, ever stop believing regardless of the circumstances that you are facing. Never, ever forget that God's power is greater than human understanding.