Having read the Bible cover-to-cover more than a dozen times over the years, I’m always amazed at the new things I discover—or don’t remember reading before. The depth of my knowledge expands by being in dedicated Bible studies and reading and hearing from scholars of God’s Word. Doing these things is a wonderful investment of time and energy.
But then I find myself getting caught up in facts and how much I can learn and know. Whom can I impress by quoting particular verses appropriate to a given situation? Wait! Maybe having a know-it-all attitude is not what God is looking for. If I think I must supply all the answers anytime someone has a question, I have an arrogant attitude too.
One thing I do know is that God has all the answers (1 Corinthians 8:2-3). Meanwhile, He longs for me to love Him. When I respond to His love for me in the way He wants, I can then completely trust Him to take care of the issues and bring the solutions to all problems and questions.
Even when I know a lot about various topics, including biblical ones, it is my love for God that He looks for. It’s my heart, not my encyclopedia, that He is interested in. I ask the Holy Spirit to turn my heart to fully receive from and give my love to our heavenly Father.
What will you do about not having all the answers? Focus on developing in God’s love in addition to gaining knowledge of facts.
Anita van der Elst finds joy in creating with words, believing God gifted her with the desire to do so. Married to her best friend, Edward, since 1976, she is a proud mom of four adult children and Oma to two of the most delightful grandchildren ever. Other joys in her life include bringing beauty to Facebook through photos she takes on her iPhone, facilitating a small women’s group at church, and mentoring a few friends who also desire to write.