I Don't Have All The Answers

Yesterday I was having a discussion with my dad in the car on the way home. Somehow, the trinity was brought up and I mentioned how it was so hard for me to really understand it. I mean, I can tell you what I have learned but it's so hard for me to actually wrap my mind around the concept. I was hoping that my dad could explain it better, but instead he replied that he didn't understand it all either. I've been thinking, there's so much I don't understand about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible in general. In fact, the more I meditate and read scripture, the more questions I have. There's no way I can make sense of it all. I can't understand everything about God...and to attempt to do so would be to severely limit God. Take the trinity for example: Ever since the early church, people have debated about how to describe the trinity. In fact, opposing groups make up words (homeostasis, homoeostasis...or something like that) to try to articulate the relation between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Disagreements don't end with the trinity, we've got the nature of Mary, presence of the Sabbath, women's roles in church...Churches and individuals have been interpreting and reinterpreting scripture for hundreds of years. How are we supposed to know who is right? Who is practicing Christianity closest to what God meant in the Bible?

"Everybody thinks their opinion is the right one. If they didn't, they'd get a new one"-Anne Lamott

Nobody approaches the Bible without bias. When we read scripture, we can't just ignore our past experiences or culture. Whether we like it or not, this plays a role in how God's Word speaks to us. In fact, the very writers of the Bible were influenced by the time period they wrote in, who they were writing to, and why they were writing. Just look at some the differences between Matthew Mark and Luke (birth narrative, resurrection accounts, etc.). Writers, just like us readers, are influenced by their surroundings. Not only do you have those discrepancies, but just think about how the canon was formed: some guys got together and decided on it (in reality it's a bit more complicated, but you get the hint). So does this make the Bible any less valid or less credible? I don't think so-The Bible is about actual people. In actual places. Telling about how God has revealed Himself to them, and how they have come to understand God. I don't think that their writing pens were possessed and they had no control over what they were writing-I think they were all writing for a reason or purpose. It does involve some faith on our part-Faith that the Spirit that guided the men in the canonization process and the authors of the Bible is the same Spirit that's alive and present with us right now. I believe in the truth of the Bible, and I believe that God has been present throughout history and has his hand in the development of the text. The Bible is confusing-but the process of struggling with it and interpreting it and arguing with it, when led by the Holy Spirit, can really help us to understand the type of God that God is. We will never have all the answers, and it's okay if our view of minor doctrine shifts as we discover more. It's easy to pick out verses that fit our needs-sift for things that we find applicable to us in the here and now. Don't get me wrong, I think one-verse cures are okay, as long as we understand the context. I'm bad about this-I immediately have specific verses that pop up into my head whenever I think of 'love' or 'joy' or 'persecution'. However, what amazes me is that I can read a verse tonight, then read it again next month, and find out something new about it. I do think that that's the power of the Holy Spirit at work and proof that the text is living. People are always going to have different interpretations, different ideas about what the 'purest' form of the text is. While I do stand my ground on certain doctrine, the Bible is very versatile. The process of interpreting it is important, but we'll never know all the answers...just like we can never fully understand why God is the way He is. Lord, I praise you for being bigger than anything my mind can comprehend. I don't have all the answers, but I pray that I would grow in my understanding of who You are. I pray that the Holy Spirit would lead me to becoming wiser and help me to approach scripture in a way that is not self-seeking, but God-seeking. Thank you for the Bible, and all the mysteries it contains. I pray that my questions would not deter me or discourage me, but reaffirm me that you are God and I am not. Thank you for how you have revealed Yourself to me and continually love me no matter how many times I fail to acknowledge You.