{"id":3774,"date":"2017-01-08T12:54:36","date_gmt":"2017-01-08T19:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/?p=3774"},"modified":"2017-01-09T10:28:27","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T17:28:27","slug":"dont-ask-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/08\/dont-ask-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Ask Me."},"content":{"rendered":"

1-9-17<\/p>\n

Everybody is an expert these days. Pundits know more than politicians. Bloggers know more than pollsters. People at McDonald\u2019s know more than the president. (The funny thing is, many times these things are true! But, to continue the thought\u2026) Our brother-in-law knows more than we do, whatever the topic; our spouses usually are correct, even when we don\u2019t admit it; and the most aggressively ignorant voter has the same power as policy wonks do.<\/p>\n

It is the Age of Experts. Not \u201cexpertise,\u201d not wisdom, necessarily, but opinions transcendent. Opinions are not facts, but these days they carry the same weight.<\/p>\n

With all the humility I can muster, I want to go on the record and say that there is a LOT that I don\u2019t know. Many of us are tempted to assume, or project, or \u2013 let\u2019s be honest \u2013 fake an answer, when we are asked things. People ask casual questions or sometimes cry out with anguish about heavy issues. How dare we presume to know things we don\u2019t, whether from positions of false pride or assumptions of merciful comfort.<\/p>\n

It is honest to answer casual questions, \u201cBeats me!\u201d And it is liberating to respond to a hurting soul, \u201cI don\u2019t know! I just don\u2019t know either.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a child who has been loved and nurtured \u201cturns out bad.\u201d <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a lovely, innocent child is brutalized by a predator, or killed in an accident.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a youth who turned into an addict, a drunk, an abuser, or a criminal, one day turned his or her life around and became a redeemed soul, ministering to others.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why people, especially the kindly folks among us, contract deadly diseases.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why people with \u201cincurable diseases\u201d get healed; as I have seen, cancers disappearing, dead limbs coming to life, restored sight.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why spouses who are in loving marriages cheat.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why rich people steal, or powerful people needlessly scheme, or political leaders oppress.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why some people forsake all worldly goods and live among the poor, serving the weak and rejected.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why religious people unfairly discriminate, or some of the clergy sexually abuse children.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why, in lands of freedom and opportunity, people are lazy, \u201centitled,\u201d lawless, anti-intellectual, hateful.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why our society, despite all its blessings and its heritage, careens to the bottom of the culture\u2019s dumpster, glorifying low morals, lack of respect, and self-glorification.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a nation founded on liberty and goals of equal rights, marches toward government controls and regulation.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a scientific society can, at the same time, devise miracle cures and means of prolonging life\u2026 and perfect ways of killing babies more efficiently, with easier consciences, and increasingly by edict.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a country can brag about democracy at home and impose non-democratic systems on other nations.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why a country with crumbling roads, bridges, tunnels \u2013 and morals \u2013 insists on scurrying after such concerns elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why, with all of our \u201cprogress,\u201d humankind seems worse off than ever. Religious persecution, deaths and torture, ethnic cleansing and barbarity, are rife. I don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

I really don\u2019t know why the Creator of the Universe loves me. Knows me, cares for me, sacrificed His Son for the punishment I deserve as a crummy, rebellious sinner. I don\u2019t know. He tells me; it\u2019s in the Bible; the Holy Ghost whispers to my spirit. Sometimes I know, with gratitude, but sometimes it overwhelms me.<\/p>\n

Those are a few things I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know why people forgive \u2013 or how they can forgive, sometimes. I know we SHOULD, but\u2026 I just don\u2019t know why or how.<\/p>\n

But God does. That I DO know: God knows.<\/p>\n

Comforted by that fact \u2013 not opinion \u2013 I know that there are things I do not need to know, personally. <\/p>\n

When we don\u2019t know the answers, and don\u2019t even know the questions sometimes, that\u2019s when we pray. Pray for answers. Pray alone. Pray together. <\/p>\n

When I am comforted by the assurance that I do not need to know all the answers because He does, I have come to the definition of Faith.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. He does. Ask Him! He will lead you to all Truth.<\/p>\n

+ + + <\/p>\n

Click: Go Ask the One <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1-9-17 Everybody is an expert these days. Pundits know more than politicians. Bloggers know more than pollsters. People at McDonald\u2019s know more than the president. (The funny thing is, many times these things are true! But, to continue the thought\u2026) Our brother-in-law knows more than we do, whatever the topic; our spouses usually are correct, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11,53,10],"tags":[2375,580,360,234,2377,2376,14,2374],"class_list":["post-3774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-faith","category-life","tag-abuse","tag-addiction","tag-crisis","tag-forgiveness","tag-godly-answers","tag-helplessness","tag-prayer","tag-spiritual-questions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1bRYz-YS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3774"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3777,"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3774\/revisions\/3777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}