I appreciate worldviews that allow for mystery because they ring true with my life experience. Not everything can be known—especially the infinite mysteries of God. 

In western cultures there is often the need to have an answer for everything. When something happens—good or bad—we tend to give affirmations or comfort with pat answers. We want to explain what God is doing and why. The honest admission, “I don’t know,” seems unacceptable.  

When I was young, there was a space in the back of my mind I protected. I didn’t want new thoughts or difficult questions to enter there. Surely it would be scary not to know all the answers concerning God. How could I help other people if I didn’t know all the answers?  

It’s easy to feel safe when we think we have all the answers—when we think God will always act in parameters we’ve set for Him. If He seems to be acting in a way we can’t understand, there must be another explanation that’s been overlooked. Life’s foundations would crumble without answers. Certainly our lives rest in what can be known, explained, and safely fit into an appropriately labeled box. 

However… there is the God of the Bible who stands in stark contrast to such ways of thinking. It’s impossible for human minds to have the infinite being of Yahweh completely figured out, tidily organized into our expectations. If He is reduced to the explanations we can muster, He is humanity’s creation instead of humanity’s Creator. 

Convincing myself I can have all the correct answers to life will not produce the peace and security I crave. However, there is infinite grace, goodness, and rest in admitting that not everything can be known. This frees me to trust in the God Who Is. He is the all-knowing, eternal and powerful one. I am not. I cannot comprehend all His ways. Thankfully this means life rests in His hands, not mine.  

Instead of panicking because I can’t change events in my life and the world; instead of sinking into bitterness because I can’t change other people—I can rest. I can trust the God Who Is instead of the god I’m tempted to create.