July 27 -- What DO You Know ? -- Szczecin

I hope you also are having a great day today.  The sun is shining brightly and the sky is blue over Szczecin.  Yesterday was a magnificent day.  In the morning I did a bit of writing and some administrative tasks.  In the afternoon I met with a wonderful Saint who has been set free from a horrible destructive relationship.  I was blessed as I watched her let go of the false guilt that she had been loaded down with by her "christian" friends.   I marvel that religious people can believe such garbage.  And, I cannot conceive of any reason to be so hateful as to load other people with burdens that no one can carry.  Later in the evening I met with a brilliant young couple who have set their hearts to love and serve the people of God.  It is so exciting to see Holy Spirit pour revelation on young saints who suck it in like a desert receiving spring rains.  Then to watch in awe as like that desert the young people burst into bloom with all the glory of spirit life.  

Meanwhile back at the flat, Mariusz seemed to alternate between pouring out spirit and life over the telephone in conversations with saints around Poland and feeding spirit and life into Marek as they worked together to prepare Marek for employment interviews.  As the Lord brings him to your memory over the next few weeks, I am sure Marek would be grateful for your prayers that Holy Spirit would lead him to the employment position the Father has for him.  He very much needs to find employment that will enable him to begin the process of bringing his finances within the realm of his self-control.

Those of you who have spent much time with me have no doubt heard me talk about the response, "I don't know."  There are two kinds of responses either of which can be expressed in that phrase.  The first is a simple statement of fact.  You ask me a question which needs an answer but I do not have the facts needed to answer your question.  In healthy people in important conversations this kind of I don't know is often followed by, "But, I will find out and I will let you know."   The second kind, and sadly the far more common kind, of I don't know, is the one that really means, "I really do not want to be responsible for the answer I would give to your question. So, I will avoid your question by pretending I do not know."  This kind of I don't know is a way to avoid commitment and/or responsibility.  It is a way to evade the need to make a decision.  Most sadly, many of us are just as willing to use this lie with God as we are with people.

Jesus had the grace to protect people from knowing things for which they were not yet ready to be responsible.  He taught in parables so that men would not understand Him.  But, that should never be the case for those of us who have become sons of God.  In Isaiah chapter 1 we hear the cry of Father's heart.  He says quite clearly that His desire is for sons who understand Him.  But, all too often we choose to not understand Him because we know that once we understand we will be held responsible for what we know.

My good friend Rob is a brilliant man. I mean brilliant - genius level IQ kind of brilliant. He has walked with the Spirit of The Lord for decades. He has had a longing to understand Biblical prophecies for most of that time. He has gone through periods when the forces of satan were beating him severely. And He has gone through periods of seeing the miracles of God on a regular basis. He has had a deep hunger for knowing and understanding the Scriptures. He has always been a fellow who pays attention to the details of things he studies. He has been through many life experiences, some good, some bad. He is about as old as I am.

Once Rob and I were chatting on Skype. He was telling me about a facet of understanding one of the most complex books of the Bible. It was a simple thing. And yet, despite all his years of study, he had never recognized it before. I likewise had never seen it before he described it to me.  Once he had shown it to me it was totally obvious. One of those, but of course, that is simple and clear.  So far as Rob or I know no one else has ever written or spoken about this simple reality.  But, suddenly there it is as plain as the sunrise on a clear summer day.

Why, I ask myself, did neither of us notice this before ?   Simply, it was not yet God's time for us to see it before.  The Scriptures are filled with examples of men and women not being able to see or understand a thing until God was ready to reveal it.

The time has come for each of us to stop moaning and crying about what we do not know. Today is the day The Lord has made for us to walk in what we do know and let Him carry the burden for all the things that we do not yet see.  But even more important it is time for us all to stop pretending that we do not know the things that we are afraid to face.

His, thus Yours,

  Stuart