It is possible to be blinded by what seems reasonable to us. We cannot think our way through the things of salvation and eternity; they are beyond us and require a deposit—a gift, if you will—that grants the grace of a much larger perspective. And the difference between this gift and mere reason is as great as the difference between light and dark, life and death.
What Is reasonable?
Once we gain an enlargement of perspective that comes by experiencing something we hadn’t yet experienced or learning something we didn’t know, all our fearful imaginings collapse as the unknown becomes known. There is knowing by reason, and then there is knowing by something greater than reason. It is possible for unregenerate man to know by reason, but impossible for him to handle those insights that are gained only through faith.
Every human being who has ever lived has approached the unknown in a state of calamity that results from the fact that he is torn between capitulation to something greater than he and the universal instinct toward self preservation.
The irony of this first thing is that his capitulation to something greater than he is inevitable, but the fact that this inevitability is played out in time over his lifespan makes it seem like a distant storm that may or may not touch him. But it will, and he feels this truth in those parts of his construct that are eternal. He wants to surrender to One greater than he, but he senses that this surrender will be costly.
His instinct toward self preservation, on the other hand, is deceptive, pulling him in the opposite direction. He wants to preserve the status quo, especially if he is wealthy, which is one reason why it is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.
One force pulls him toward what seems like certain death, the other pulls him toward the illusion of control. The problem is, both tend to gravitate around denial—either that death and the disclosure of all his secrets will never come or that he has the power, innately, to be (eternal).
Both of these denials place man at the pinnacle of his own world. The pressure of that place has always been and always will be unsurvivable.
The Purpose of Lack
Since man cannot be the biggest thing in his world and remain uncorrupted by self-worship, the ideal response to the unknown is not conquest by domination and self-glorification but surrender. Since creation is inherently dangerous in the present age, the only surrender that can be survivable by man is if there is a beneficent force greater than he in which he can place his ultimate trust—something greater than these present dangers. Man was therefore meant to live not as the omniscient omnipotent he thinks himself to be but as a humble learner who has been subjected to lack.
Further, this lack must have some purpose.
The fact that man can learn is evidence of this lack. If something more than man knows about exists, there must be some force larger than he is, and this power must know, design, order, and sustain all things. This force must be beneficent if it works counter to entropy to heal. It must have all knowledge if it has the ability to reveal to man things that are hidden. There must be design, intent, and timing in this revelatory process, and these three things reveal that the character of this controlling, sustaining force is good. The design shows order. The intent shows purpose. The timing shows patience.
knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and insight
Knowledge is the low hanging fruit of the process of revealing hidden, unknown things. Knowledge can redound either to good or evil; it depends on the motive of the seeker. It can move us toward inevitable things or toward irresistible things. Inevitable things speak of death and darkness; irresistible things speak of the power of light and life. The very inevitability of death requires it to pass away to its end. The persistent irresistibility of life (things constantly grow from the very dust) means that it ultimately prevails. Like man, it has been subjected for a time, but ticking time, with its relentless beginning and ending, has itself been encoded with the law that it must therefore pass away.
Now we are moving from knowledge to understanding, which can be said to be knowledge that is inspired. Understanding is like knowledge, only it has a purpose greater than itself to do good. This is where reason begins to thin and fail. Knowledge that serves only itself cannot ever grow into the realm of understanding because of this self-obsessed self service, which further testifies to the evil nature of man.
Beyond understanding lie wisdom and insight. These pass well above mere knowledge into the things of faith. It is here where there is a departure from the limits of reason, which is why those in bondage as reason’s self-obsessed slaves mock it for folly, which, to them, it is.
But we’re instructed in 1 Corinthians 2.9 that “…eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” We have neither observed nor imagined these things. Our best reasoning is as good as total blindness, and when we stand on what we can know and understand, we’re as good as dead. When we receive the faith that is required to open the eyes that can perceive the things of God, we move from the blindness of reason into the insight of faith, which is required to please God. Thankfully, He is good and generously gives us this gift.
Faith’s Purposes
One purpose for faith is to enable us to do things that don’t make sense to our reason, which obedience crucifies our flesh. This is a process we need to engage daily if we are to continue on the Way with Christ. Faith is neither reckless nor blind. It is a response to things heard and seen that can be neither heard nor seen with mere reason.
“…the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours.” ~Oswald Chambers
When a child of God takes a step of faith, it looks perfectly unreasonable to any bystander without faith for that step. But it goes well beyond what it merely reasonable to the child that is taking the step.
I suspect that what underpins this truth is the fact that faith is fueled by love. It doesn’t matter about sense, reason, pain, suffering, loss, death, or anything else when faith is active. Faith that is alive is ready for its number to be called, whether for life or death.
All scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.