Lord, only you know

Today I simply want to explore the implications of Ezekiel's contention that "Lord, only you know."  Without a doubt, I am a person who wishes to project the image of knowing what I am talking about.  Trap me in a conversation about which I know nothing and I will experience some serious discomfort, which will turn either to hostility or boredom.  I know that the world is filled with millions of folks who are both brighter and/or better read or more learned than I am, and yet, I will feel that sinking feeling of not measuring up when confronted with even a very small group of such learned folk who leave me in the dust.

So, Ezekiel's "Lord, only you know" gives me pause as I consider how often I am willing, perfectly willing, to acknowledge God's superior comprehension without first offering up my accumulated knowledge and list of suggestions. (answer:  rarely)  Perhaps this is the curse of the almost smart, but maybe everyone has a similar point of discomfort. 

A professor of mine at seminary was due to take his sabbatical in research and conversation with other theologians at Oxford.  This was a man with a vocabulary that often sent me racing to the dictionary so to keep up with his lectures.  I remarked how much he must be looking forward to conversation with his peers, with folks who truly understood him and could challenge his thinking. (instead of we second year theology students who didn't even know the ABCs of theology).  He said, "Never underestimate the insecurities of another."

And he was/is smart!  Add to that group particle physicists, folks who can do theoretical math, the proverberial rocket scientists, economists, car mechanics, and I have a few others too who are knowledgeable and skillful in areas that are quite truly Greek to me!

This is what I was thinking about when I read Ezekiel's "Lord, only you know."  I don't like it when I am in the dark about something!  Yet, if I have to be in the dark, I am glad that God is in the know.  It gives me permission to be all that I can be, but not to expect myself to be the fount of all knowledge.  I can embrace my own humanness in the face of God's god-ness expressed in love for creation.  

Finding that balance between giving all that you have, and allowing God to be God is one aspect of the faith journey I think.  I know that if God had asked me whether those dry bones could live, I would have offered an opinion.  Ezekiel was the smart one.  The future belongs to God and only God knows what can happen. 

The future belongs to God.  I know I will be making use of that perspective a lot in the months ahead.
Shalom.