A Powerful Admission
Are you good at admitting that you don’t know something?
Verse of the Day
“O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
Today’s Devotional
Part of the process of coming to God for renewal is being honest about where we are right now. And many times, “where I am” is in a place of now knowing what to do. There is power in admitting what we don’t know, and what we don’t know how to do. I have a friend who once said, “The smartest man in the room is the one who knows what he doesn’t know.”
I’m going to give you some hard truth. Are you ready?
You don’t know everything. Neither do I. Pretending like I have all of the necessary information is, well, foolish. There is so much power in admitting the truth. My truth is that sometimes I just don’t know. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say. I just simply don’t know.
In today’s verse, the land of Judah is about to be invaded. They can see, by the size of the invading army and its men, that destruction is on the horizon. Can you imagine the panic of that situation? This is where good leadership can change the game. The king, though he was terrified, ordered that everyone begin fasting and seeking the Lord. That’s good leadership. This king then gathered all the people and prayed, out loud, telling God that he had no idea what to do.
That kind of admission is brave and it is strong. I believe that admitting when we don’t know is what God might be waiting for sometimes. There is no weakness in not knowing. There is foolishness in barrelling ahead when we have no idea what we are doing. In this story from the Bible, once the king admitted that he did not know what to do, The Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men and he gave an answer to the king from God. The answer, in this case, was to simply show up to the battle. God would do the rest. The people of Judah would not even have to fight. They just had to show up.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this one example of “I don’t know” in the Bible. Also, I don’t believe that every time we admit that we don’t know something that God will deliver an answer through the mouth of another person. I do believe, however, that one of the goals of our relationship with the Almighty God is to recognize how much we need him. There is strength in knowing (and admitting) what we don’t know. There is value within our human relationships in admitting that we don’t know. It is a gift to others to admit that you don’t have it all together and that you don’t have everything figured out. It is always a benefit in our personal relationship with God to admit the truth. And the truth, for me, is often that I simply don’t know. But every time I admit that to God, He shows up.
One of the smartest things anyone can do when they don’t know what to do is find out who does. How often are we looking around at the people in our lives and seeking wise counsel from someone who has experience with what we are currently struggling with? And more importantly, how much time are we spending with the One who literally knows EVERYTHING? Look what the Bible says:
- If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)
- For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)
- Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! (Romans 11:33)
Maybe part of the renewal process is to stop striving or trying to fix things and simply admit that we don’t know what to do. And when this happens, we would be wise to follow this example from Second Chronicles and admit to God and each other (even if we are in a leadership position) that we don’t know what to do. Then we seek God with prayer and fasting. Then we wait for His answer. My guess is that His answer is for us to show up more often than not. Show up in our relationship with Him by making time for Him. And then we can let Him fight the battle.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Does it make you feel good to have the answers? Have you ever wondered WHY that makes you feel good?
How can you admit to God today the things you don’t know?
How willing are you to admit when you don’t know to others?
What situation do you need to bring to God today and say, “Lord, I don’t know what to do about this”?
When God shows up, be sure to write it down so it will build your faith.
How can you simply show up today?