What if God told us from start to finish how things were going to play out in our lives in every little detail? Sounds good right? I know for a long time I wanted the full picture. I wanted to know how it started, what I was supposed to do in the process, and how it was going to turn out. I can't say I don't still feel that way sometimes.
Looking back now on what God has done in my life throughout different seasons, I know there is one common thing for them all: I did not know what was next. See, God is faithful to reveal the big picture to us to awaken the desires in our hearts so we can start preparing for them by seeking Him. What he doesn't do is tell us all the trouble we could possibly walk through, seasons that may almost kill us, or the testings of our faith. Why wouldn't He just tell us? Wouldn't that be best? We would be so much more prepared if we knew when the hurt, tragedies, or pains were going to hit us, right? This was my question and anger towards God for so long. "God, You told me these are the things you have for me and they were going to happen but look at this! Don't you see how awful this is! If you would've just told me, God. If you would've just told me this awful thing was going to happen, I could've been ready!" Oh, the things we pour out to Him when we feel broken and forsaken. Many times I've asked for forgiveness in the things I've said to God out of hurt and pain. Every time He has forgiven me and cleaned out my heart.
This morning, my heart was lead to two things:
One was the story of Mary being approached by Gabriel, God's angel, in Luke chapter 1 verse 28. Gabriel came to give Mary the Good News or better yet, the big picture. Gabriel told Mary that even as a virgin she would bear a son and He would be the Savior of the world. God didn't tell Gabriel to warn Mary of HOW that would happen. Gabriel didn't tell Mary that her son would eventually have to be beaten and die on a cross for this big picture to finally happen. Why didn't God tell her the little details? Why didn't he tell her so she could prepare for what was coming? The same reason that he doesn't tell me or you. We cannot bear it. We think that we would be able to prepare and be ready but the truth is when you spend your life preparing for the bad things you miss all the good things that God blesses you with. More than likely if you're constantly trying to prepare for these bad things, you will mess it up and you will not grow through it the way God intended for you to grow through it. You no longer need him because you can do it yourself and eventually you believe that you can rely on yourself. That, my friend, is one of the greatest lies the enemy uses every single day.
The second thing God lead my heart to this morning was Jesus speaking to his disciples in John chapter 16 verse 12 when he said, "I still have many things to tell you but you can't bear them now." Why did Jesus tell his disciples that? Because he knew if he told them what was going to happen to him, then I truly believe their faith in who he was and what he had come to do would be hindered. Why? Because his disciples knew him as the son of God and that he was the Messiah but they didn't know in order for him to fulfill the prophecy he would have to be crucified on the cross. Imagine Jesus telling you as his disciple "In order for me to be who I'm going to be and to be all that you will need me to be, I'm going to have to die. But don't worry! Three days after I'm dead and decaying, I'm going to be risen from the dead." I don't care how holy you are or how strong of a Christian you are, when someone tells you the big picture and the big picture is they have to die but they will come back to life, you're not going to believe that. Ultimately the disciples would've lost their faith in who Jesus was in the course of history in who those men are for us today could've actually been changed.
So I leave you with this. God is protecting us when he only shows us the big picture but not the small details that we will have to go through in order to get to the end of that journey. He knows we cannot bear it no matter how much we think we could possibly prepare for it. This is how we learn to trust. This is how we learn to grow in Jesus Christ. And most importantly, this is how we learn to follow the Holy Spirit's leading without wavering. Be encouraged my dear friends. He truly does have our best interests at heart and we can trust him through every season regardless of how painful or ugly it might be. He knew we couldn't bear it, so He bore it for us with 3 nails hung to a tree. That is a love we can all trust without the minor details along the way.
