Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know. But if someone loves God, he is known by God. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)
“Why do they have gargoyles on the church?” “Why do they eat pure fat?” “Why won’t they sit on cement?”
The American teens of our mission trip to Hungary asked too many questions. They wore the leaders down until we finally set a limit—three cultural questions per day.
I also suffer from brainitis. It’s the disease of using knowledge to control my environment instead of trusting God. Brainitis is a fear based malady. I fear that what I can’t understand I can’t control, and what I can’t control will hurt me.
Knowledge puffs up. It inflates my pride into thinking I can manage the unending variables necessary to direct the future. What knowledge should do is make me realize how much more I have to learn. It should humble me into dependence on God.
There’s only one who fathoms every intricacy of all realms. God holds in his consciousness all of history’s words, thoughts, and actions, and he weaves them into a tapestry of eternal prosperity for those who love him.
Because of God’s sovereignty and love, it’s okay to lay down the news reports. I must let my spiritual organs recover from all that data saturation. Rather than feeding my fearful whys, it’s time to bask in God’s friendship.
Love cures brainitis. I’m called to the productivity of love, not to the waste of worry.
Prayer: Almighty God, silence my whys with your love.