Ignorance isn't bliss

Courage doesn’t come from understanding. Courage comes from choosing to trust God even when you don’t understand.

Oct 02, 2024

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back (Romans 11:33-35)

My best friend’s daughter is sunshine incarnate. This kid just brings joy wherever she goes. At least, she does until she hears a sound she doesn’t recognize. And then, all bets are off. She races back to her mom and hides her face, crumpling in terror until the sound is gone.

She did this at the zoo the other day. We were watching the tigers, and in the exhibit building, the zoo plays tiger sounds. Roars and growls and things of that nature, just to add ambiance I guess.

Well, the tiger roared over the loudspeakers, and the poor kid panicked.

“I scared!” She ran to her mom, and then she ran to me. “I scared!”

Once we explained to her that the scary tiger sounds were only on the speakers and the real tiger was actually outside napping in the sun, this little three year old looked at me and asked a brilliant question: “Why?”

A very good question indeed. Why would they play scary tiger sounds in a building next to sleeping tigers? Were they just trying to scare little girls?

Well, I don’t know why the zoo plays scary tiger sounds in that building, but my little friend’s response made me think about the times I’ve been afraid because I didn’t understand why something was happening.

September 11. My car wreck. Friends receiving news of inoperable tumors and cancers and other terminal health events. My mom’s Alzheimer's. Just to name a few.

Difficult things happen every day in life, and not just to me. Not just to you. Every person in the world is struggling with something that’s too heavy for them to carry, too big for their brains to understand.

And when I don’t understand, I get scared. I count on understanding. I rely on being able to put pieces together to see a pattern or spot a plan or find Jesus in the mosaic of painful life moments. If I understand, I can face anything with courage.

But courage doesn’t come from understanding. Courage comes from choosing to trust God even when you don’t understand. If you’re depending on understanding to prevent your fear, you’re going to be disappointed. Because you’re not going to understand everything that happens in your life.

So don’t let understanding be where you plant your flag. Don’t let knowing why be the foundation where you build your life. You won’t always have access to that information.

But God does. God knows why. He understands things we never will, and what He has done is offer us freedom through His understanding. He knows how the universe works. He made it after all.

When we don’t understand, we don’t have to be afraid. We just need to hold on to God tighter than before and trust that one day we will understand.