How many husbands do you hear saying "I just don't understand her!" when talking about their wives, and vice versa when us women talk about our husbands. We look at our teenage children and wonder what planet they came from and who they are! They certainly don't seem to be anything like the children we gave birth too!
Our lives are fraught with misunderstandings and the consequences that result from them. From something as simple as who was going to take out the trash, to larger problems which can result in major fights and sometimes even divorce. These misunderstandings also occur in the work place and in miscommunications between friends. We are constantly having to ensure that we understood exactly what was being communicated to us.
This lack of proper understanding of each other is even more evident between the different sexes. Countless books have been written about this age old problem, offering countless different methods of overcoming this problem. I am sure, however, that in the next year, another bestseller will hit the shelves proclaiming to providing the answer to these problems of misunderstanding and miscommunication.
Yet I cannot help but wonder if this inability to fully understand each other, all the time, is not part of God's plan for us? If we were able to comprehend exactly what our partner wanted to express, would we have a need for patience? Would we need to learn to exercise self-control? Perhaps if we were able to know exactly what was going on in each other's minds then there would be no enjoyment in learning the mysteries that make up the psyche of each individual. Having a relationship with someone requires effort. We cannot be friends with someone without first extending a hand to them and drawing them into the circle of our lives. By doing this we are saying that there is something about them that makes them attractive to us and that we want to spend time with them. We then have to build on that relationship – whether it is a friendship or a more serious, more intimate relationship – it still needs to be developed and nurtured.
In the same way we have to understand that our relationship with God is the same. We cannot know His mind, why He does things the way He does, or even how He did them. We cannot even understand His heart. What we can know, if we are willing to enter into a relationship with Him, is that He does love us! Despite our sins, irrespective of our talents and abilities, our financial situation or our physical appearance, God does love us! Why He loves us exactly is a mystery! We are after all, a pretty miserable bunch! He gave us the Earth to look after, and we've trashed it; He instructed us to love each other and yet we are constantly at war; He asks us only to love Him in return, of our own free will, and yet we deny His existence and take more notice of the theories of crackpots rather than accept His word in the message of love (the Bible) that He has left for us! But still we want to understand God when we cannot even understand each other?
I am sure that if you were to ask any couple who have been married for a number of decades if they fully understand their spouse their answer will be No. Does this mean that they don't love them or that they are unable to accept that their partner loves them back? Of course not! They would not still be in a relationship if that were the case. Do you understand that your friends are your friends because there is a heart connection between you that does not depend on full understanding of each other and also an acceptance of the fact that you may at times disagree with each other? Of course you do! So why do we find it so hard to extend the same attitude towards God? The fact of that matter is that God is way bigger than our understanding. All we can do is accept His love, His mercy and His grace. He offers us a free gift of salvation, an eternity spent with Him, and all He asks is that we believe!! That is so amazing, so incredibly mind-blowing! A mustard seed size of faith and belief is all that is required and we get so much!
All I can say is, I don't understand it! Not at all! But I don't understand my husband, children or friends all the time either. I am not going to tell them that I do not want a relationship with them because I don't understand them; nor am I ever going to tell God that I don't want to be in relationship with Him because He is beyond my comprehension. No! Instead I am going to revel in the fact that my great big, incomprehensible God loves me, died for me and wants a relationship with me! Little old me! Now that is AWESOME!
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