You Don't Know? That's Okay

Let me begin this post by saying that if you are not following the Lifehacker page on Facebook, you are missing out on a lot of helpful tips. That being said, Lifehacker recently posted an illuminating article entitled, “Why Saying ‘I Don't Know’ Adds Credibility.” According to this article, people are actually more inclined to believe you if you admit when you don't know the answer to a question, because you are less likely to come off as pretending to know it all, and will trust you to research the answer to their question and relay it to them at a later point in time.

This certainly feeds into the present generation's desire for “authenticity” (however that word may be defined). More importantly, for those who are zealous to provide answers for why they believe what they believe, it helps to make sure that one's zeal is tempered with humility. After all, the Bible states, “even zeal is not good without knowledge” (Proverbs 19:2, HCSB). Of course, there will always be those who will twist your “I don't know”s in a negative light, but such people should not bother you. The important thing is maintaining one's intellectual integrity, and admitting the limitations of one's knowledge (and promising to study and learn more where one's knowledge is lacking) is an important step towards that.

In summary: Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know something from time to time. If you do, that makes you more believable, and you become all the better for it.

Committing Myself to God

Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established. 

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 16:3, 19:21)

I'm incorrigibly idealistic. My mind is always flowing with dreams, harebrained schemes and plans that land me in all sorts of adventurous situations. I'm always thinking about what might make the world a better place, or maybe just how I'm going to get by in this life and get what I want. The problem is that there is a strong temptation for me to rely on my plans, my wit, my skills, or even just plain dumb luck, in order to get things done. And I'm none the wiser when I fall for that temptation.

As an ardent believer in the providence of God, I am often harping on about how everything in life is in God's hands, that He has promised to take care of His children, and will in no wise fall back from fulfilling that promise. Yet I must confess that I don't always live up to that profession of faith. I confess that it is a sin on my part that I always end up falling back to the mentality that somehow, everything depends on me, that I have to make things happen and I must determine the course that my life will take. I don't commit myself to God in my prayers nearly as much as I ought to, and the result of this negligence has been much unnecessary anxiety and disappointment. And if I fall, I have nobody to blame for that but myself. It's like that old song that's often sung in churches: "O what peace we often forfeit / O what needless pain we bear / all because we do not carry / everything to God in prayer."

I got a lot going on in my mind right now. I got university papers to finish, jobs to apply for, a summer missions application to work on, and (potentially) a significant other to pursue. This endless avalanche of things to think about brings with it a strong temptation to fall into my old habit of perpetual anxiety and stressing out. But tonight, I've committed it all to the Lord. He reminded me that He is there and is available for me to come crawling to Him, unworthy though I may be. I've placed all these things before His feet in prayer, and I am trusting that He will sort everything out even where I have no earthly idea what I have to do or how things might turn out. If they turn out the way I hope in my mind they'd turn out, well and good. If not, well then, it's not the end of the world. God must have something better in mind. He has promised, and will not change His mind, that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28)

Blessed be the Lord God Who has numbered the hairs on our heads and Whose eye is on every sparrow that darkens the skies.