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You Don't Know What You Don't Know

Let me begin by confessing that I watch WAY too much television. To be clear, I watch most of my television programming on Hulu with my laptop...but still. It's a lot. Trust me. A few nights ago, I was tucked tightly in bed watching an episode of Fringe when a transient character declared one of the deepest statements I have ever heard: "You don't know what you don't know."

In other words, a person has no idea the amount or even the scope of things of which s/he is ignorant. Powerful, huh? As humans, we are learning everyday. There is always something to learn and something about which we know absolutely nothing.

Now, if we use that as a basis for understanding Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV), "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think...", the possibilities are mind-blowing.

Think about it. We don't know the depth and breadth or the scope of the things that we don't know. All we know is that the world of knowledge that is hidden from us is vast. We are therefore limited by the things we know. Our imaginations are restricted by the boundaries of our knowledge. We can imagine things that are outside the scope of our reality to be sure, but even our imaginations are limited by our knowledge.

But (and this oughtta make you shout, if you're prone to such things) we serve a God that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above anything we can ask or THINK. "Exceedingly abundantly above"? That phrase ventures boldly into the realm of the unknown. This is the God we serve. He can work in ways we don't even know how to ask Him to work because He works in ways that surpass our intellect, understanding and imagination. God Himself declares that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than ours (see Is. 55:8).

The inconvenient path requires us to be mindful that we do not know what we do not know. If we are mindful of that, then we will be able to trust God past the point of convenience understanding that He if we are careful to honour Him, He will work in on our behalf in ways that are far past finding out. He's that kind of God.

As we go through this year, let us covenant together to make sure that we don't limit Almighty God to work within the boundaries of our understanding and imagination. He's God and we don't know what we don't know.

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