The Whys and The Whats

SCRIPTURE:  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Hebrews 4:15 ESV

THOUGHT: I’m one of those people who wants to understand things. It’s an old thing, probably rooted in trying to keep myself safe in a chaotic world. I always feel if I can just understand, if I can know the “why” of something, I can act appropriately. But some things can’t be understood. They defy logic, really, and even if I do understand mentally, understanding emotionally or spiritually doesn’t always follow.

Understanding the “what,” as someone pointed out to me today is far more important in the life of faith – the “whys” are our enemy’s tool to keep us murky and confused, going around and around in mental loops.

So, what is the what? The what is our foundation. We have a high priest who sympathizes with our human frailties, our inability to make sense of things. The what is that we are seen and known and loved. The what is that we can be forgiven if we just ask, repentant of our latest foible and folly before the one who sees, loves, and knows us. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Hard to trust one who doesn’t care about our whys as much as whether we’re going to take him at his word. But we are those who hope for what we cannot see or wholly know, and that is the essence of faith.

PRAYER: Oh God who sees and loves and knows me inside out, help me trust your truth at every twisted lie of the enemy. I don’t have to figure it all out and I don’t have to pay the price you already paid. I am your child, and I just have to accept the gifts you offer.