I Wish We Had More

One of the greatest challenges that we all have in studying the Bible is dealing with so many things where we are given only limited information.  How many times have you read something in the Bible and wished for just a little more detail, facts, and description?  We have already talked about the overriding need to remember that the Bible is about God.  That’s why we don’t have more information in many of the classic stories of the Old Testament.  What was given to us, is not about Noah’s ark, the crossing of the Red Sea, or any other story we love to read about.  It’s there to tell us something about God not the characters or events being told.  That helps us understand why we don’t have a more detailed description of every event.  It’s certainly not told the way a novelist would tell it.  A typical writer would run out of superlatives trying to tell about every detail of every story.  It’s filled with divine limitations.

When it comes to spiritual insights, we must remember the challenge God had of trying to inform limited, physical mortals about things that are limitless, spiritual, and eternal.  There are many things that God wants us to be aware of, but we just aren’t ready or equipped to understand how different the spirit realm truly is.  I’ve mentioned before that even with so many references in the Bible to angels (over 300), we are told very little about who they are, what they do, and how they exist.  In my books, because they are works of fiction, I get to speculate about all these things, but the truth is, God determined that we didn’t need to know everything about angels.  Why? We can only guess.  He doesn’t tell us much about Heaven, Judgment, and the Holy Spirit.  We’d love more information, but maybe it’s beyond our need-to-know level of faith, and just maybe it’s way beyond our capabilities.  Just think about it.  Are we capable of grasping timelessness?  God is not restricted by time.  He is in the past, the present, and the future all at the same time.  If the spirit realm isn’t governed by time, what year is it there?  When will it be – when we get there?  Maybe the reason that God had John describe Heaven as being made out of precious metals and stones was because the real Heaven is beyond description – and/or – understanding.

We are told that God has given us everything we need to do His will.  We have “all things that pertain to life and godliness,” and that means we haven’t be cut short on truth, information, and guidance.  Our job is to understand that He can’t tell us everything – yet!  We are not ready or equipped to receive it.  So, we haven’t been cheated, we’ve just be given an appetizer for the main course yet to come.  As we read and study His Word, we must remember to respect His challenge in putting it all together for us.