Devotion 2 – Faith is not Being Brainless

 Devotion 2 – Faith is not Being Brainless

 “If I seem to walk out of step with others, it is because I am listening to another drumbeat.  

That is an exact description of faith: Christians walk as though listening to another drumbeat.”  - Henry David Thoreau

This is a walk of faith; it is what makes the Christian different from the non-Christian. Unfortunately, the walk of faith is often greatly misunderstood even among Christian.

Prov.3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

 Authentic faith is not a call to sacrifice our intellect and to live brainlessly. Faith and intellect do not necessarily contradict each other. In fact, the book of Proverbs exhorts us constantly to seek after wisdom and understanding:

 

Prov.2:2-3 – “Incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding…and lift up your voice for understanding.”

 

Prov.2:11 - “When wisdom enters your heart…Discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you.”

 Prov.3:13 – “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.”

 

Prov.16:16 – “How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”

 Prov.23:23 – “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.”

 

So, why are we told not to lean on our own understanding as we seek to walk in faith?

 What it means is that our decision should not be based primarily on our own perceptions and understanding because our own understanding is limited and often not complete. Hence, it is not the one who trusts in the Lord that is irrational, but the one who leans purely on his or her own understanding.

 In exercising faith, we are not throwing aside our intellect, but rather, we are resting our intellect upon the intellect of God, trusting in His omniscience and sovereignty.

“Omniscient” = All knowing, having infinite and unlimited knowledge. He knows everything about everything. He knows everything that could happen or is going to happen under any kind of circumstances. He is the Alpha and the Omega and thus sees the end from the beginning.

Isa.46:9-10 – “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done…”

 He is the script writer, producer, and director of our lives. Only God has perfect wisdom and understanding because only He has the perfect knowledge. Our human wisdom is limited and worse, corrupted.

 

The Forbidden Tree

In the beginning, Eve was deceived by Satan to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to get wisdom (Gen.3:5-6). Why did God forbid humanity to have knowledge of good and evil? Does God want us to always live in innocence and ignorance?

God knows that once we eat from the tree of knowledge, it will lead to an unhealthy independence from Him. We will grow to become more and more independent instead of God-dependent. We will begin to use our own judgement to define what is good and evil which is corrupted as it is incomplete knowledge; as a result, what is actually evil can become ‘good’ in our eyes.

There are two kinds of death - physical and spiritual. In the Bible, the theological meaning of the word “death” is “separate.” The physical death is the separation of soul and spirit from the body. The spiritual death is the separation of our soul and spirit from God. This is the death that Adam died, and in Adam we died also. It is in consequence of this death that we are born separated from God; separated from His wisdom.

 

Today, we still bear the fruits of that “fruit”. Our definition of good and evil has been corrupted due to lack of true wisdom and understanding. For that reason, many people called evil as good.

Prov.14:12 - “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death”.

 

This is a warning to us all. What seems right to our understanding, does not mean it is right. The Scripture tells us clearly that due to the fall of Adam, humanity has “their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God…” (Eph.4:18). Though our mind was once again enlightened after we received Christ, it was not to the full capacity as before the fall. Our mind and understanding is still finite and limited, as aptly stated by Paul in 1Cor.13:9, “We know in part …”.

 

For that reason, we are called not to lean on our own understanding but to acknowledge Him in all our ways so that He can direct our paths.  While most translations use “acknowledge”, the NIV says “in all your ways submit to Him”, while the NLT says, “seek His will in all you do”. Hence, to walk by faith simply means not to make decisions exclusively on our own understanding, but to always seek His will and to mindfully weigh our decisions against the guidance of His Word.

 

Trusting God’s Higher Ways

Ps.147:5 – “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

 Isa.55:8-9 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declare the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts”

Prov.21:30 – “There is no wisdom, no insight; no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”

When the Bible tell us not to lean on our own understanding, it is not encouraging us to be irrational but rather, to live a life that is guided by the Word and His voice, surrendering our understanding to His infinite understanding, His higher thoughts and to rest in His wisdom which is perfect, a wisdom which can work out everything for our ultimate good. For He is not just a God of infinite wisdom and understanding, but also a God of infinite Love and a God of infinite Power. In His unending wisdom, knowledge, and power He has planned all of eternity, from start to finish. His plan is impeccable. They are higher. They are better. Infinitely so!