Limited Understanding

Limited Understanding

Martha

Read: John 11:17-26

My friend Lisa’s son always preferred academics over sports. One day when he was in the fourth grade, his PE class played baseball. While Mark was on base, a batter hit the ball. Seeing that Mark was daydreaming, the teacher and his friends all began shouting, “Run home, Mark! Run home!” Mark immediately took off—in the direction of his house, which was a few blocks from the school.

Sometimes we don’t fully comprehend what someone is saying to us. When Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again, she assumed that he was referring to the final resurrection of the dead. Martha had no idea that Jesus was about to perform a miracle. Filled with grief over the loss of her beloved brother, she thought that Jesus meant to comfort her by reminding her of a future event. Martha’s understanding was limited to the familiar teachings about the resurrection of the dead. Although she acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, her mind could not conceive what he had in mind.

We all struggle with limited understanding of God. We have no trouble believing that he controls the universe, but it may be harder to accept that he is involved in the details of our lives. We understand that Jesus died to secure eternal life for us, but we don’t quite understand the abundant life that he promised his followers. It’s easier to embrace the idea of going to heaven someday to be with God than it is to understand that he lives in us right now. Like Martha, we don’t always fully comprehend what God is saying to us, but he will help us grow until the day in heaven when there are no limits to our understanding.

All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

1 Corinthians 13:12