We humans love to know, and the internet has opened the world of knowledge to a whole
new level. I believe one reason we want to gain knowledge is that it gives us a sense of control in our lives. Bit
by bit as I have lost certainty about some of the information I've believed
about God and about the Bible (subjects I thought I had a lot of certainty about in the past), I'm discovering freedom and peace in not being so sure about a
lot. I'm discovering that "knowing" in God doesn't primarily mean being
certain about everything related to Him. "Knowing" in God includes
honest doubting and questioning and not knowing. Truth is meant to be loved, not always known. George MacDonald understood this and said the following:
"To know God is to be in the secret place of all knowledge; and to
trust him changes the whole outlook surrounding mystery and seeming
contradictions and unanswered questions from one of doubt or fear or
bewilderment to one of hope...Not to be
intellectually certain of a truth does not prevent the heart that loves
and obeys that truth from getting the goodness out of it, from drawing
life from it because it is loved, not because it is understood." (from MacDonald's book, "The Lady's Confession")
"Doubts
are the messengers of the Living One to rouse the honest heart. They
are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have yet to
be understood...Doubts must precede every deeper assurance. For
uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region hitherto
unknown, unexplored, unannexed." (from "Discovering the Character of God")
This is not to advocate for laziness in seeking truth, but it is allowing space for not knowing. It is to be at peace with mystery...
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