There are moments in my life where I realize how incredibly narrow my thinking really is. Ask me about banking, financial parameters, economics, fiscal policy, or customer service and I have a myriad of insights. Turn the tables and talk about the amount of water a lawn needs to stay green (seems to vary with the amount of sun) and I am forced to learn in silence. It is not just lawns! Do you know the difference between a 1955 Delray and a Bel-Air? Should one use warm, hot, or cold water when rinsing the dough in making fresh gluten? (Answer is cold) Are there any visible signs when a CJ-8 spark plug fails? (Answer is not usually)
I meet several individuals during the weekend that do not have traditional academic credentials. It would be all too easy to draw conclusions about their knowledge and insight. Ironically the same could be said, at least by my actions and others, about our view of God. Does He or She really understand what it is like to live in the world today? Given His wealth of resources does the idea of financial stability or even money to pay the rent even cross his thought process? How about the challenge of just getting through the day when everyone is against you?
I have found that having a degree from one of the world’s top schools does not guarantee anything. There are those who have never formally completed school that have learned through experience what schools at the best try to teach. They know the challenge of getting through a day. They are the ones who freely often share what they have with others along the way, just because they need a helping hand.
“God guards knowledge with a passion, but he’ll have nothing to do with deception.” (Proverbs 22.12)
God doesn’t ask us for degrees. He asks us to go out and live life – fully, completely, and in reality. He offers us grace, mercy, and love as tools to make it work. It is always the simple things…
