God Only Knows

One of my mother's favorite sayings was, "God only knows."  Anytime something was questionable or undetermined, she reminded us that it wasn't in our ability to see into the future or the hearts of others - only God knew. And her answer to nearly every why question was the same. I can hear her very clearly saying, "God only knows what made them [him, her, you] do that."

When I was a young minister, I wrestled with the why questions. With the theological background of graduate school and seminary, I had the answers to virtually every question. I may not have been right very often but I was never in doubt.  Why questions were not beyond my youthful reach. In fact, my faith seemed to require that I have an answer to the whys.

But now-a-days, my response to why is a familiar refrain from my childhood, "God only knows."  What age has afforded me is a comfortableness with unanswered questions. I have come to truly accept the truth of Deuteronomy 29:29, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

God does not choose to reveal everything to us. Somethings will remain a mystery and I am finally comfortable with knowing that "Only God knows" many things. I am finally OK with mystery and delayed understanding. I have come to fully accept the truth that God is good and faithful.  I can embrace Jesus' words of comfort: "Let not your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me..." (In 14:1).

When only God knows, I can trust that everything is in his control and I can rest easy in him. Jus' Say'n.