Hymns: Go Ask

 

            I love all the sermons our pastor preaches, but this past Sunday’s was just extra in all the best ways. He preached about the man who had been born blind, and after Jesus healed him, the teachers of the law wanted to know who had sinned that caused him to be blind in the first place. They kept peppering the poor guy with questions about his healing.

            How did it happen? How? How? HOW?

            The man got fed up with the questions and reminded them that he had already answered all their questions…why did they want him to go over it all again?

            I leaned over to Ryan in church and told him the Gaithers had a great song about this, and I couldn’t wait to play it for him.

            I listened to it so many times throughout the day yesterday and was so glad to be reminded of it on Sunday so I could fill my mind with its words of truth.

            You can listen to it here, but the song begins with these words: Don’t ask me to explain to you how one could start again, or hardened hearts could soften like a child. Don’t ask me how to reason out the mysteries of life or how to face its problems with a smile.”

A bit later, it says Go ask the one whose burned out mind has been restored – I think you’ll find your questions not important as before. Don’t ask me if He’s good or bad, I only know the guilt I had is gone, and I can’t tell you any more.

            The song ends with the part about the blind man: I don’t pretend to be so wise; I only know He touched my eyes and nothing else will ever be the same.

            Oh, how we love answers. Reasons. Explanations. But sometimes those things just don’t exist. And sometimes – especially when it comes to how God works in our lives – the reasons, explanations and answers don’t even matter. It doesn’t matter why or how. It only matters that He did.

            What do we even truly gain by knowing all the details? If you're blind and you can see again, does it matter how God did it? Does it matter why? Or does it simply matter that you can see? 

            Mystery isn’t all bad. What if we were content to just trust that the answers aren’t as important as before? What if we were content to simply know Who He is and what He’s done?