Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Daniel 12:8-9 -- On Limited Knowledge

"And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end."
Daniel 12:8-9


In this chapter, Daniel sees some amazing things like the resurrection and a lot of things that lead up to the Second Coming, and then it all kind of ends and Daniel doesn't see the end of the story.  And that's tough, when you are invested in a plot. :)

Our lives are like this in some ways.  God shows us a lot of things, and helps us know what to do next, but he doesn't show us or tell us all of it.  And that's sometimes tough, because we don't like not understanding, and we're really invested. :)

God doesn't hide things from us for laughs, or to frustrate us.  Limited knowledge helps teach us faith and trust in God, as well as preserving our free agency.  Also, even though we often don't appreciate it, mistakes that happen as a result of lack of knowledge are often good for us, and help us learn more and try harder, as long as we don't give up.  Being immediately good at everything can set up false expectations and make us afraid of failure or incompetence, when honestly, compared to God, we are incompetent at everything, right?  No reason to be afraid of being the children that we *are,* or being in need of guidance from our Heavenly Father.

Today, let's remember that it is okay not to know everything.  It is okay to work with limited information, and to make mistakes, and even fail.  As long as we are working to avoid intentional sin and we keep trying to do better and to move closer to God, we're golden.  Let's try to be okay with that for now.  God has promised to tell us everything eventually. :)

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