Be Grateful for What We Don’t Know
Yael Eckstein | January 28, 2022
A person’s steps are directed by the LORD.
How then can anyone understand their own way? — Proverbs 20:24
We continue with devotional thoughts from the Book of Proverbs every Friday. One of the 11 books in the Torah known as the Ketuvim, Hebrew for “writings,” Proverbs is part of the “wisdom tradition,” which also includes Job and Ecclesiastes.
Have you ever wanted to know the future? I’m sure you have at some point. I know I have, especially when I was younger. But if you really think about it, the fact that we don’t know the future is actually a great blessing from God.
Just imagine if you knew the details of all the difficult and painful things that the future would bring in the normal course of life before those things even happened. The pain would begin as soon as you knew about them. It would probably be more difficult to rejoice in the happy moments of life if we were too aware of how they would end.
And as for the happy times that the future holds for us, we’re going to enjoy them anyway, even more so because we didn’t know they were coming. So maybe we should be thankful for what God conceals from us as much as, if not more than, we are grateful for all that He has shown us.
Be Grateful for What We Don’t Know
But it’s not only the future that God conceals from us. We also never know the full effect of what we do. While we would all love to see the positive impact of our prayers, our acts of kindness, and all the other good things we’ve accomplished, what about the damage we may have caused in a moment of weakness, anger, or negligence? I, for one, am grateful for all that God prevents me from knowing.
Proverbs teaches, “A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?” The lesson of this verse is not that we should be frustrated by the fact that we don’t know God’s plan for our lives. God doesn’t want us to feel like fools in the dark.
Proverbs is teaching us a lesson in faith. We can only act on what we can see. We are more in line with God when we follow His will and embrace the fact that our vision is limited. God knows our path and we do not, but we should be grateful for what we don’t know!
Your Turn:
Express your gratitude to God today for your limited vision and all that you don’t know. Trust that He knows what’s best!