I remember how excited I was to start learning how to play the guitar when I was 14 years old. I was going to pick up my ax and totally wail. That was the plan. I would write love songs for Lindsay (one of my earliest crushes) and she would marry me on the spot. The reality turned out to be quite a bit different.
Contrary to my plans of swooning Lindsay like a mid-90’s Dave Matthews love ballad, I sounded more like Animal from the muppets trying to impress her. It was a mess. Turns out I had to practice. A lot.
I wanted to just play the thing, but I had to work at it, practice, fight through frustration. After years of practice, I was able to write songs and travel all over the country leading people in worship. Huge honor. But I would have never realized that dream without wrestling with that guitar and fighting through the frustration.
The same can be said for our excitement to read the Word of God. We find ourselves so excited about the idea of reading the Word, but then we realize that we don’t understand everything. We have unanswered questions. We get frustrated. And instead of wrestling with the Word, many times the choice is made to just give up.
Don’t give up. If you don’t understand the Word, welcome to the club. The Scriptures themselves say that God’s plans are a mystery in 1 Corinthians 2:7:
No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God —his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.
The word of God is a mystery. In almost every other area of life, mysteries evoke feeling of intrigue, wonder and anticipation. My prayer is that your heart would be full of this same intrigue, wonder and anticipation. Allow those feelings to replace frustration, detachment and disappointment. You weren’t wired to understand everything. You were wired to go on a journey.
I never did end up writing Lindsay a love song. In fact, I don’t even remember her last name. But that’s not the point. I did, however, learn how to play the guitar and continued to grow in that gift over the years.
Dig into the Word today. You won’t ever regret chasing this mystery.
