Living in the Mystery

Obviously, I don’t have all the answers. In fact, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I actually know. I find it’s one of the things that keeps me pressing into the presence of my Heavenly Father, because only He holds the words of life.

Early in our journey of loss, grief, and disappointment, I was stuck on the “consider it all joy” mandate found in James 1. I was hurting so much I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what the Apostle James was saying. I must have reread that passage of Scripture a hundred times searching for the hidden secrets. How can there be joy in my mourning and peace in my despair? I wanted that, I needed that, but in my pain I couldn’t get past the words themselves; they’re mutually exclusive, opposites. Yet, if the Word of God says it, I knew, somehow, it must be true, even though it was a mystery. So I pressed in.

The truth of the matter is the Kingdom of God is an “upside down” kingdom. It’s backwards to what we consider normal, logical, or acceptable. In fact, God spoke to Isaiah and said:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV)

As if to illustrate that passage, Jesus liked to make statements like, “turn the other cheek,” “So the first will be last and the last first,” and “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.” This is backwards to what society teaches and what culture exemplifies. These are not the statements of a “me” focused culture. We make statements like, “put yourself first because no one else will” and “look out for number one.”

Consequently, we don’t understand the culture of the Kingdom of God, because it runs counter to the way we’ve been raised to think of life, society, and freedom. In the culture of the Kingdom of God, Jesus has been anointed…

“to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;” (Isaiah 61:3a ESV)

But that doesn’t make sense to us, especially in the midst of our pain. Consequently we dismiss much of the Word of God because it doesn’t fit in with our way of living life. It doesn’t mesh with our cultural and societal norms. So, when faced with disappointment and grief, we become discouraged, confused, and angry. We don’t understand. We blame God because we don’t really know Him or we have a wrong perception or perspective about Him.

Sometimes we blame the devil because we don’t want to wrestle with the thought God was involved; that at some level He had to have “allowed” the circumstance that led to our disappointment and pain. Many times we walk away from God because we don’t have the answer to those questions.

So, we keep blaming Him, the devil, or ourselves, and we look for comfort in other things. The reality is we have to struggle and wrestle with these thoughts and accusations to find His peace. We have to press in deeper to Him and to His presence to find the answers to our pain.

Revelation Is Found in His Presence.

There are mysteries in the Kingdom of God we don’t understand, and without His revelation, we cannot ever hope to understand them. It only stands to reason that an infinite God would be beyond the understanding of a finite people. Yet, this infinite God wants to be understood. He wants us to wrestle with these issues that have brought us so much pain.

In the story of creation found in the bible, shortly after Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, we read this passage from Genesis 3:8:

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

Strangely, I’ve always found this verse to be comforting – even though it marked the end of their lives in the garden and the beginning of man’s toil and pain outside of it.

I find it comforting because of the image of God, the creator of the universe, walking in the garden and enjoying His creation. There is an intimacy being communicated here easily missed by the circumstances Adam and Eve have through their disobedience.

This passage suggests this was a normal occurrence for Adam and Eve and the Lord. The reference to Adam and Eve hiding from His presence indicates they normally wouldn’t do that; instead, they would join with Him, in His presence and His walk through the garden.

I sometimes imagine what that must have been like. It wasn’t a time of silence and reflection as God, the creator of all things, walked majestically through His creation. I think, in reality, it was a precious and intimate time of wonder, learning, and revelation as the creator, their Father, revealed His creation to the children He entrusted it to. I can imagine the questions Adam and Eve must have asked and the awe His answers must have inspired.

Even though Adam was there from the beginning, it was all a mystery to him, and it was the Father’s delight to open up the mystery and begin to reveal its secrets to His creation, His children. I can’t fathom what a thrill or how exciting it must have been every day as Adam waited for his creator to “walk through the garden in the cool of the day.”

Much of life is learning to live in “the mysteries” of God. It’s not always an easy place to be because we constantly want to know “why.” We’re not satisfied with cliché answers like, “it was just her time to go.” We want real answers, but those answers are hard to find. In the process, we have to be willing to live with the mystery while continuing to struggle with those answers that seem out of our grasp.

Here’s the “upside down” part again: I think intimacy many times is found in the mystery. The mystery can be something that drives us toward a relationship with the only one who can reveal and unwrap those things we don’t understand, like Adam and Eve walking in the garden with God.

“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name:  Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3 ESV)

The phrase “hidden things” is actually one word in Hebrew—basar. It means things inaccessible by fortification. God is saying to Jeremiah, “If you will call to me and seek me, I will answer you and reveal highly fortified things to you that you would NEVER be able to access without me.”

It’s an invitation to come inside the walls of the castle of the King and be intimate. It implies the creator of the universe wants us to know Him experientially, not just mentally. That’s why the answers many times are fortified and impossible to know or understand. He wants us to seek Him and find Him. He walks with us, talks with us, leads us and invites us to use our senses and know He is good, that He is for us and has a plan to redeem what has been lost. What an amazingly loving Father we serve.

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8 ESV)

I don’t want to mislead anyone or for you to misunderstand what has been said. Not everything will be revealed when we want it to be revealed—some things we may never know in this lifetime. But when we accept the invitation to intimacy, then even when we don’t understand, when we don’t know the “why,” we have this promise: “And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].”  (Philippians 4:7 AMP)

Learning to live in the mystery is paramount to living a life of peace and joy in Christ Jesus. It once again becomes an issue of trust. Trust is not something we usually learn on mountain tops, it’s generally what we learn in the valleys—in the dark places and seasons of our lives. It’s in the darkness that the light shines its brightest.

Something else to note:

If we are seeking answers rather than relationship, both will slip through our fingers. It’s intimacy our Father is after, and He will use the mystery to bring us there. He longs for you to walk with Him in the “cool of the day,” to seek His face and to know HIM. It’s in knowing Him, we find revelation and peace.