Can You Understand Everything?

Everyone experiences the frustration of not being able to understand some things. Maybe it occurs in an academic class when Calculus or Quantum Physics take a jump forward that our brains failed to grasp. Or it could be when reading a play by William Shakespeare or a classic by Charles Dickens and we wonder what was that about.

However, our failure to understand more often occurs because of the actions or behaviors of individuals, groups, or nations. Watching the evening news can cause me to voice a common question and statement - "Why did they do that or why do they think that?" - "I don't understand why that even had to happen." Maybe I am not the only one who has this lack of understanding.

When I was a teenager, our youth group at First Baptist Church, Temple, Texas, often enjoyed singing a song written by Charles A. Tindley in 1905. The song was (and still is) "When the Morning Comes." Our youth pianist Sue played it fast and with a greatly syncopated rhythm. I don't know if we understood the significance of the words or only enjoyed the pace and rhythm of the music. In retrospect, I find that the words have important meaning for today.

WHEN THE MORNING COMES

By Charles A. Tindley (c.1905)

copied and arranged by B.B. McKinney (1937)

Trials dark on ev'ry hand, and we cannot understand

All the ways that God would lead us to that blessed promised land;

But He'll guide us with His eye, and we'll follow till we die;

We will understand it better by and by.

(Refrain)

Oft our cherished plans have failed,disappointments have prevailed,

And we've wandered in the darkness, heavy-hearted and alone;

But we're trusting in the Lord, and, according to His Word,

We will understand it better by and by.

(Refrain)

Temptations hidden snares often take us unawares,

And our hearts are made to bleed from some tho'tless word or deed,

And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best,

But we'll understand it better by and by.

(Refrain)

REFRAIN

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We will tell the story how we've overcome;

We will understand it better by and by.

As a teenager, it was a fun song to sing. Today, over sixty years later, it is a picture of life. Many things happen in the course of life that we simply can't understand why someone makes the decisions that changes the positive direction of their life into a negative direction. Likewise, why can't nations get along and make progress to ending world hunger or cancer instead of making war. Even when we examine our own lives, we are faced with the unanswerable question - "why did I think that was a good idea at the time?"

I guess that when we were young, we thought that we would understand everything as we aged. We saw that the "by and by" was just some passing of time. The truth is that in this lifetime there will be many things that we will not understand, even when we thought we knew everything.

Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians about the difference in understanding everything today and the clear understanding we will have in heaven.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face

to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know

fully, even as I have been fully known."

1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)

How shall I understand this life today? As Paul stated, understanding is bleary and dim in this life. Once I am in the presence of God for eternity I will be able to see and understand clearly. But what am I supposed to do until then? The song I referenced above gave us the answer twice. In the first verse, the third line, it states "But He'll guide us with His eye." The He is God. He sees and knows everything. He is our guide. In the second verse, the third line, tells us what we are to do - "But we are trusting in the Lord."

How long can we trust His guiding eye - "till we die"? And how can we know that we can trust the Lord - "according to His Word"? The song we learned early in our lives reminds us that "Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so." In our days of uncertainty and lack of understanding, our hope and promise rest in trusting the Lord and following His guidance as revealed through His Word.

This week, may our fears and lack of understanding find peace and comfort through our trust in our Lord who loves, cares, and guides us. I don't have to understand or know everything, because I know that He does, He is my Lord.