Yesterday, Pete, Melissa, and I sat in the breakroom during lunch. Pete was eating soup. I was eating brown rice and spinach. I really wasn’t paying attention to what Melissa was eating because I knew it would be weird.
As we sat there visiting, Melissa reached into her lunch bag, pulled out a can of beer and poured it in a glass. This caught me completely by surprise because we are an alcohol free campus, drinking during work hours is really frowned upon, and I didn’t realize Melissa had a drinking problem.
Knowing that the first step for Melissa’s recovery meant lovingly confronting her on her inappropriate drinking at the church, I said, “You cannot bring beer to the church.”
Instead of being contrite, admitting her addiction, and asking for forgiveness, Melissa went into a long diatribe explaining what was clearly a can of beer wasn’t a can of beer. She said it was a LaCroix Sparkling Water. But I saw what I saw and was not going to be talked out of it. That would have meant I had made a mistake, which is impossible because I pretty much know everything.
Have you ever met a know-it-all? We are truly the most obnoxious, irritating people on earth, because we are incapable of admitting we are wrong.
Luckily, the bumps and bruises that come with living in this world have convinced me that I don’t know everything. No one does.
In fact, one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned occurred as I watched my seminary professors teaching class. Here were all these very smart people with PhDs in God who, from time to time, would answer one of our questions with, “I don’t know.”
They taught me that being able to admit that I don’t know everything is not a sign of weakness but of strength. Now, in Bible studies, I am very comfortable saying I don’t have all the answers. And when it comes to God, no one does. Only God knows.
God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
So if you ever run into anyone who says they have all the answers, run.
As followers of Christ, we don’t pretend to have all the answers. But we do have the one answer that transcends the questions. Jesus is Lord. In the end, that’s what saves us from sin, allows us to spend eternity with God in heaven, and brings us peace and security in the midst of a chaotic world.
Prayer: Dear Gracious Heavenly God, please give me the clarity and resolve to always make Jesus the center of my existence. Allow me to help others do the same. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
The most important answer is Jesus; all else pales in comparison.
Also, just for the record, I’m going to call Scott and see when we can set up an intervention for Melissa and her alcohol problem.
Surely, if she sees the concern from her husband and her pastor, she will stop bringing beer to work. We need to pray.
I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins
Daily Devotionals by Dr. Tom Robbins 