The problem with ignorance is that often you don’t know you have it.
There are the things you know about yourself. There are the things that others know about you. And there are some things that only God knows about you.
In the same way, there are things that you know about reality more broadly. There are things that others know about reality more broadly. And there are some things that only God knows about reality.
In Physics, all of the scientists working together to explore reality contribute to and maintain what is called the “Standard Model”. The “Standard Model” is the summary collection of all known facts, parameters, rules, and information used in predicting the outcomes of physical situations. So, for instance, given two pool balls on a pool table, as one ball is hit such that it strikes the other ball at a certain angle, the “Standard Model” allows a Physicist to predict with a high degree of accuracy the final state of the table after all the energy is expended and the balls come to rest.
A lot of confidence is put in the “Standard Model” by people all over the world because it is based on the observation of phenomena, the collection of data, the consideration of evidence, and the reduction of data into equations and rules that specifically expound the deterministic outcomes of an enormous range of circumstances. And yet, ask any Physicist and they will tell you that the “Standard Model” is not perfect or complete, it is finite and limited in scope with scientists working every day to push the boundaries of knowledge further into the unknown — to explore, observe, collect, and analyze new data in the pursuit of discovering explanations for situations not yet fully understood.
It is this pursuit of the boundary that keeps science interesting, challenging, and innovative. And yet, in a lot of ways it is actually the knowledge of the boundary that establishes the ability of science to predict outcomes, because within the “Standard Model” people have stored both the current state of knowledge and a record of where the boundaries are around it. For instance, understanding that in the macroscopic world Newton’s laws of motion apply, but in the microscopic world of neutrons, protons, and electrons the situations and interactions are no longer so easily predicted by the simple calculations of mass and acceleration like Newton so plainly observed in the visible world, hence the study of Quantum Mechanics emerged to explore the world at that scale.
If science were to say that it was only interested in the knowledge it possessed, but was not concerned with tracking or considering the boundaries around that knowledge, science would lose its ability to bring value and insight, innovation and solutions to the world.
This is because there are two elements of true wisdom and actual knowledge: the veracity of the knowledge itself, and the understanding of its limits or boundaries.
Without knowing what you don’t know, what you do know becomes less accurate, less useful, and less effective.
So, along with pursuing knowledge, understanding, and insight — it is essential to pursue context, frame of reference, and the limits of your knowledge.
That is why God tells the prophet Isaiah,
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” – Isaiah 55
God is, in fact, the ultimate frame of reference, the ultimate context, and the ultimate fact about reality. Every finite thought, insight, understanding, reason, rule, observation, conclusion, and perception is contained, defined, and bounded by its relationship with the infinite and ultimately universal reality of God.
Choosing to have a relationship with God is essential to salvation because to deny the existence of God or refuse to be contextualized by the reality of God is actually a less accurate and less informed position to take and so compromises the quality of all the other knowledge you possess. However, choosing to put yourself into context with God, choosing a relationship with God, choosing to pursue and embrace the reality of God as your ultimate frame of reference allows you to discover alignment, correction, improvement, resolution, healing, restoration, peace, joy, fulfillment, good judgment, and the new work of creation that God is consistently performing in you.
Jesus said,
“I am the true grapevine…Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing….But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask anything you want, and it will be granted!” – John 15
Understanding the limitations of your knowledge, seeing clearly the boundaries of what you know and what you are capable of, embracing the fact and the reality that you are finite is actually one of the greatest doorways to accessing the infinite blessings, the super natural favor, and the unbounded fulfillment of the promises God has spoken over your life.
“Ask anything you want, and it will be granted!”
The problem with ignorance is that you often don’t know you have it. The power of a relationship with God is that by discovering the boundaries between your finite perception of reality and the infinite actuality of God you actually open the way to receiving more than you could possible grasp on your own.
There is a common fact that is known in science, that reality is, in fact, the best model of itself. The “Standard Model” is simply the best approximation yet of what the human race has observed and concluded about the reality that we all live in and experience every day, but it does not begin to comprehend the infinite depth and extent of the full truth that God has built and continues to provide throughout all of creation.
So, while you may not understand why, how, or what God is doing. You can rest confident on the fact that if you choose to align your way with God’s way, your perspective with God’s perspective, your purpose with God’s purpose, and your priorities with God’s priorities than God is going to be able to work in, through, and around you in bigger, better, and more powerful ways than you have even yet imagined to be possible.
After all, your limits are not God’s limits. And understanding your limits, discovering your boundaries, embracing your context, and pushing your envelope to reach for God beyond your comfort zone opens the path to receiving God’s life without limits.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” – John 15
clarkechols
My experience of this is when I notice a fear of failure stopping me from using my God-given talent and wisdom. And I am able to notice that fear whenever I remember to trust God – the limit is revealed! I would love to hear other people’s examples of discovering the limits!