It's Not For You to Know

“It’s not for you to know.”

Sitting in my first Bible study class in my new city, those were the words that rang in my ears. I did not know any of the ladies who gathered in that room nor did they know me or any of my struggles, but those words from the study pierced my heart in a way I didn’t think possible.

We were beginning a study in the book of Acts. Reading through the first chapter in which Jesus was spending time with His disciples instructing them to wait for the Father’s promise. This instruction appears pretty simple and straight forward. These individuals had just witnessed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The same individuals had also heard of many accounts of God’s promises being fulfilled. They had no reason to doubt if God would fulfill the promises He had made, so when one questioned Jesus it wasn’t the questions of “is He really going to fulfill the promise?”, or “Can you prove it?” - it was a simple and earnest question laced with hope: “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom of Israel at this time?”

I have often come to God with questions.

Often they center around my timing and not His.

When my husband and I were in the midst of infertility I remember praying, “Am I going to get pregnant this month?” When we were following God’s will by moving to a new city and starting from scratch we prayed, “We followed you, now we will see the blessings, right?” So often the answer was, “It’s not for you to know”.

Questioning isn’t always a lack of faith.

I never once doubted that I would be a mom or if our obedience would lead to a blessed life, I just didn’t know how or when. I knew that God had an amazing plan for my life and I knew that living according to His will would always be a blessing even if it meant hard times (remember blessings can be found in the hard times too). I knew all of this much like those disciples knew God would fulfill His promises. They had the privilege of witnessing first hand many of the amazing works of our God through Jesus. We have the privilege of His Word. In His Word, we find everything we need: hope, guidance, accounts of His faithfulness, reminders that suffering leads to perseverance, and so much more. In His Word we find Him.

I walked into Bible study that Tuesday night unaware of how much I needed to be reminded that “It wasn’t for me to know”. As a mom of two precious gifts from God, while serving in a church family that I love dearly, I still have the human desire to know what is happening and when. I want to pray and have all my prayers answered on my terms but God doesn’t work on my terms.

He has a plan for me and you. He loves me and you.

He may not give us all the details upfront or make us as comfortable in the waiting as we would like but He is faithfully working all things together for His glory and the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

So let’s rest in Him. Let’s rest knowing it’s not for us to know. Let’s rest in knowing all we need to be concerned with is following Him in the here and now.

Blessings,

Laura Dedmon