3 Words That Will Set You Free

Knowing everything is a ton of pressure, isn’t it?

I know…you’re right. No one knows everything! But it’s funny because all of us, at some time or another act like we do.. I’m not just talking about those of us who have a little smart aleck in us. Or the people who have the reputation as a “know it all.” It affects us all.

Today’s world puts a lot of undue pressure on everyone to have all the answers all the time. Because of science, observation, and the wonder of search engines…we are no longer able to to admit we have no idea what’s going on.

And that’s why these three little words offer us so much freedom…

“I don’t know.”

My friend, there is great freedom and grace found in learning how to simply say, “I don’t know.”

“I don’t know” frees us to let God be God.

The world will never give us all the answers we want. Not only that, the Bible never promises to explain everything about everything to us. The more we get to know God through the Bible, the more we learn he what wants us to know particular things He thinks are important for us.

So when you say, “I don’t know,” you affirm that God is God, and you are human.
You are expressing your faith in Him.
You are saying,
“I am created, He is Creator.”
“I have a limited understanding, but God knows all things.”

This kind of living…a life that is humble enough to recognize when to say, “I don’t know” – this is what I call Jesus Spirituality. And Jesus Spirituality frees us to be truly human and embrace our limitations. It also embraces God’s fullness and releases us to ask, seek and knock. Then we can receive from Him what only He can give us.

“I don’t know” frees us to learn.

Jesus told his disciples to be like little children to enter God’s kingdom…But the irony was His disciples had just forbidden a group of children from coming to Jesus. Jesus’ followers, like most people in that culture, did not value the wisdom of children. But if the disciples had a teachable spirit – had they been open to saying, “I don’t know” – they could have learned so much from that moment. What a tremendous opportunity to learn how to approach the Lord! Jesus Spirituality reminds us that we are all in process and there’s always something we can learn…a “next step” we can take. With that in mind, we are free to embrace the reality that we are becoming and have not yet arrived.

“I don’t know” frees us to point people to Jesus.

One of my great blessings as a pastor is the opportunity to pray with people. Life is messy, and often we give people second-rate advice. But all we really needed to do was pray. We dive right in with our limited understanding and tell them what to do next. Imagine how blessed the person would be if we humbly bowed our heads and hearts before the all-knowing God and said, “We don’t know, Lord… we need you to speak.” Then God’s deep wisdom begins to emerge, and God’s work can happen.

So here’s my challenge for you this week:

This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, to invite God to speak into your life. Be honest about what you don’t know – with yourself, the people in your life and especially with God!! And I promise you, you’re going to feel worlds different, and light as a feather as your spirit lifts in the freedom of Jesus taking the place he deserves in all our lives.