Soldier's Orders: An Acceptance Of Intellectual Inadequacy

Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp.

Psalm 131:1 (NLT)

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high. I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:6 (NKJV)

Are you intellectually gifted? (Most likely you are. Quick minds are common among performers.)

If so, then beware! When mixed with pride, gifts become stumbling blocks… especially among “accomplished” saints.

We THINK our way into a danger zone: a place we where THINK we understand God, even though God says NOT to think that way:

‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts‘ (Isaiah 55:9).

No matter how “smart” the world says we are, we see through one-dimensional pin pricks… compared to He Who sees eternity.

Now let’s put it in military terms:

It’s like a recruit telling a sergeant, or a sergeant telling a lieutenant: “Explain the past reasons, present purpose, and expected result of your orders, because they don't seem “logical” to me.”

Case in point:

Seventy of Christ’s early disciples (who went out with the twelve on mission trips and performed miracles through the Spirit) questioned a hard-to-get teaching of Christ, because it didn’t seem “logical” to them.

The result? ‘From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more’ (John 6:66).” *

Their faith was bound by the limits of their intellectual inadequacy… which they pridefully refused to confess.

Actors, models, and talent for Christ:

  • 'You cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things' (Ecclesiastes 11:5),

  • The One Who declares 'The end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done' (Isaiah 46:10).

  • 'How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!' (Romans 11:33).

So give it up. Don't follow the smarties. Follow the Smartest. Our Commander-in-Chief will enlighten each of us on a need-to-know basis. Be thankful for His superlative superiority.

Because in a tragically flawed world, 'We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose' (Romans 8:28).

Soldier's Orders: An Acceptance Of Intellectual Inadequacy (Part 8)

NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players.’ Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.

* Read the story around John 6:66: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A60-69&version=NIV

Carey Arban