What are you pursuing right now? What drives you to move, to work, to accumulate, to investigate, to engage at an increased rate? Maybe you are passionate about a hobby, watching or playing sports, exploring food, or in caring for your land and home. Do you fully engage at work and give your best effort there, or maybe you are distracted by something else and wish you could be there while at work. These things are not bad in and of themselves, depending on the role they have in our lives, but there is usually a reason we become excited to chase after something that holds our interest. We were made to desire more…of what?
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14
You can always learn more about an area of life through reading and learning about it and also through experience. A veterinarian learns about principles of anatomy, physiology, and medicine while in school, then applies this knowledge in treating a variety of animals. They can specialize in certain areas like cats, dogs and other small animals, or treat mostly race horses if that need exists. You can expend huge amounts of time into learning about hands on skills like welding, auto repair, etc, or you can even become proficient in fantasy through the world off video games, movies, Narnia, Harry Potter, and the like. At some point, through your work or leisure, you may have accumulated enough knowledge and experience in a certain area that some would call you an expert in what you do. Do you know a ‘master gardener’? In what area would someone come to you for advice?
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:20-21
We can do the same in our faith. We can learn a lot about certain things like prayer, the history of the bible, the doctrine of the church, etc, but unless we put these things into practice, we will never fully understand them. Every expert, at some point, had to take a first step, see their first client, say their first prayer, sing their first song. Even if you never become an expert in any one area, you can know and experience enough to be effective in what you do. Most churches and communities have a variety of areas and opportunities where you can serve. Maybe you have spread yourself fairly thin and feel that you know a little about many different things. In what one or two areas do you feel God is calling you to grow?
Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:5-7
How much more about God would you like to know? Simply asking a few questions may lead you to want to investigate further. Why did God want me to be born into the family and place where I am? How can God use my limited gifts and abilities to further His Kingdom? How has God revealed his glory through all creation? How does God see me? There are endless questions we can ask of Him for selfish or selfless reasons. Do you believe He cares about you in such a personal way as to have your questions answered? If you seek the truth, do you think He would hide it from you? A pastor could study the Word and shepherd people his whole life and only learn a drop in the ocean of what there is to know about God. But He could easily reveal himself in just that drop.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:33-36
One day, when in Heaven, we will have the opportunity to explore the world in the way it was intended to be seen, in the light of our Lord Jesus. We will see things as he does and with the right motive, devoid of the taint of sin. The knowledge of God’s power and glory as well as his love for us will allow us to pursue things with the right motive. All things should be observed through the lens of the Gospel. When you ask, God will give you discernment to help direct your steps in what to avoid and where to move forward. The path may not always be clear, but trust that your guide can see better than you.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Through faith in Christ,
Clark
