A phrase oft spoken in my house. My wife and I will be discussing something within ear-shot of our children, and not infrequently one or both of them will ask follow-up questions about the thing they have overheard. “Who did that, Dad?” or “Where did they go, Mom?” And most of the time our reply is the worst thing a kid with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) can hear: “This isn’t for you”.
By this we mean that their overhearing of the conversation isn’t bad, the content won’t hurt them, but I also have no compulsion to go back and explain the full context of something that was never intended for them in the first place.
So it is with God. We can look around and see some of the story (the General Revelation we talked about yesterday), but God had not revealed everything to us this way. God also directly reveals things to us. This is called Special Revelation. The Bible is a prime example of Special Revelation.
Yet even among those who have spent their lives studying the Bible, a great many questions linger about Heaven, Hell, the nature of salvation, the end times, and why Samson is included in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11.
A wise pastor — Steve Anonby — once told me that all the questions we have saved up to ask God will seem childish and stupid once we stand before Him with unveiled faces. God will ask us about those questions we had and we will sheepishly insist that ‘it was nothing!’
God — unlike Job’s friends — never tells Job that he is a filthy dirty sinner who has incurred the wrath of the Almighty. God simply points Job to His creative power, knowledge, and authority. And suddenly Job no longer feels the need to ask those questions. This Special Revelation of God has led Job to be quiet before Him.
God has shared with us the things we need to know. Never stop being curious, keep digging for answers. But don’t think your lack of understanding gives you the right to stand in judgement of God or demand that He satisfactorily answers every question you may have. It could be that this isn’t for you.