Carol J German

Three little words that can get you into trouble with God are I don’t know. While not knowing what you want to eat for dinner is a neutral, non-detrimental decision, there are decisions that must be made when it involves relationships. In parenting, if you don’t have a plan in how you are going to raise your children, much chaos will arise. You have to know how you are going to love and discipline them. In marriage, you can’t tell your spouse, “I don’t know,” when you are working through issues that need addressing to keep your relationship in sync. You have to humble yourself and seek to learn how to love more deeply and intimately. With your job, you can’t keep saying, “I don’t know,” in meetings. You are to know how to do your job and do it well.

When you settle in the “I don’t know” mentality without seeking answers, trouble brews for you and those around you. Relationships suffer greatly, especially the most important one, your walk with Jesus Christ.

Wherever trouble brews, you can be guaranteed that the enemy is in the middle of it. The simplest form of deception is “I don’t know.” There is truth to the saying, ignorance is bliss. Look at scripture that reveals the root of the infamous “I don’t know”: Ephesians 4:18 says, “Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.” Read Romans 1:18-32 to further understand what happens to your mind and heart when you remain blasé to God and His Son.

The enemy is very shady, and he will cast shadows of doubt and mistrust upon your faith foundation. Wherever he can distract you from dwelling in the presence of the Most High, he will. Wherever he can cause a crack in any relationship, he will. Satan hates unity and despises love.

Because of God’s Word, you and I know who Satan is, how he operates, and how Jesus is our lifeline in taking down any stronghold that the enemy tries to build in and around us. It is imperative that you know God’s Word, not just intellectually like the Pharisees and religious leaders in Jesus’ day, but intimately and personally where the Holy Spirit brings the pages of the Bible alive to your soul.

When Jesus becomes your Savior and Lord, a transformational power takes place where your “I don’t know” becomes “I do know” and you make the changes necessary as you live by faith and not by sight. God takes you from glory to glory each day as you live for Him.

To combat shady thinking that keeps you from daily Kingdom living, look at these biblical truths:

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know Me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

John 17:3 says, “And this is the way to have eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

Proverbs 8:17 says, “I love all who love Me. Those who search will surely find Me.”

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God!”

You and I are called to know Christ. We come to know Him by believing that He died for our sins. Let’s make it personal, Jesus died for your sins. You are to confess that you are a sinner and that you need Him. You realize that you cannot live another minute without His help. You talk with God openly and honestly about everything in your life. You may not realize some sins now, but as you seek Jesus and study His Word, the Spirit will reveal sins as you grow up in Him. He will take you by the hand and show you what He wants you to see when He knows you are ready, and as you change for Him, He fills you with Himself. He washes away your sin, and He gives you spiritual things in its place. Spiritual things that give you purpose for living. This is what it means when God takes you from glory to glory each day.

Be steadfast in your faith for now is not the time to live shady in your “I don’t knows.” Rise up and know for 1 Corinthians 15:56-58 says, “For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”