One morning, as I was commuting to work, I was flipping through the stations on the radio. One of the stations caught my attention as they set up their next bit. They called it “Dumb Question Amnesty”. Listers we’re encouraged to call in anonymously with a question about something everyone seemed to know, but you didn’t. There was a promise of not laughing at you or judging you on the air. The caller that morning was a female who had a date laugh at her and never called her back after their dinner. The man had taken her to a nice restaurant and as she looked at the menu, she saw something she wasn’t sure about and asked him what it was. He never answered, but only laughed at her. She wanted to know what type of fish filet mignon was. You could hear the silence on the radio as I’m sure they had to mute their microphones before they let her know it was a cut of beef.
All throughout the Gospels we read where Jesus was teaching a parable to the crowds, then later the disciples would privately ask Him what it meant. Each time Jesus would take the time to explain it to them. There were times, like in Mark 9, where Jesus was telling them about how He would die and be raised to life. In those moments, sometimes the Gospels tell us that they didn’t understand and they tried to figure it out on their own. In this instance in Mark 9:32, it says, “But the disciples didn’t have a clue what he meant and were too embarrassed to ask him to explain it” (TPT). Because they were too embarrassed to ask for understanding, His death was a complete shock and they devastated rather than excited for the resurrection. In hindsight everything made sense, but in the moment, their embarrassment kept them from understanding.
In Proverbs 2:3-4, Solomon is writing to his son saying, “Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures” (NLT). He understood that his teachings were deep and encouraged his son to ask for understanding. Then in verse 6 his wisdom directs his son and us what to do in those moments where we don’t understand. He said, “For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” If you don’t understand something in the Bible or in life, cry out to the Lord for understanding and wisdom. There’s no embarrassment in asking and no reason to stay in the dark. God freely gives us wisdom and understanding when we ask for it as George Washington Carver once did. He said, “I asked God to tell me the mystery of the universe. But God told me that knowledge was reserved for Him alone. So I said, ‘Then tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ And he told me.” What will you ask God to help you understand today? Don’t be embarrassed to ask for understanding.
Photo by Patti Black on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 