Until...

I love to read.  I read a little of most genres, but at the moment I’m kind of hooked on historical romance.  Historical as in the 1800’s.  Maybe out west somewhere.  Or in England, Ireland or Scotland.

And then there’s the reading I do to study about the next thing I’m teaching.  Did you know that you can find a ba-zillion commentaries of the Bible on the internet?  And did you know I am obsessive-compulsive enough to think I have to read them all to get the whole picture? 

I end up with way too much material, and then I start to panic. 

 

How am I going to whittle this down into something manageable?

 

I don’t think I can do it. 

 

I’ll make a fool of myself muddling around and not making any kind of sensible point.

Until I pray. 

 

Until I go to the Father and ask for His blessing. 

 

Until I give up all my hard-won knowledge and let Him carve out the words He wants me to use.

In Psalm 73, we find this:

16 But when I tried to understand these things,

        it just seemed like hard work

17 until I entered God’s sanctuary

        and understood what would happen to the wicked.

The psalmist was going through a crisis of faith.  He was questioning why he followed God when it seemed like the wicked in the world were all better off than he was.  He tried to understand, but it was just hard work with no answers.

 Until he entered God’s sanctuary, where God gave him the understanding he needed.

 Until…  If I can only remember Until…