From the Hidden Passages Series

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8

The Not Knowing Passageway

Let’s begin our journey into the deeper things of God by recognizing the first passageway every person must take. This doorway leads to the unknown, the not sure places in your life. God told Abraham to leave his family, and what was familiar, and venture off into a new place that would be revealed after a while of traveling by faith. To get where we are going means we need leave where we are.

Have you ever felt lost? Are you confused about which way to go in your life right now? Have you ever experienced disorienting uncertainty even though you have faithfully gone to church and done the “Christian thing”? Even though you have studied God’s solid Word, have there been times where you feel like you are on shaky ground? Are you in the middle of a divorce or the devastating loss of a child? Perhaps your business is going bankrupt, or you are losing your home? Has your job or your ministry suddenly come to an end?

Let me introduce one of the first hidden passages in the Bible that takes us deeper into the things of God. It is the “Not Knowing Passageway”. Because of the Fall of mankind through Adam’s choice to depend on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God requires us to take the first step through the “Not Knowing Door”, to set us free from what really holds us in captivity; namely us!  This is how God disengages us from our dependency on our knowledge and gives us an opportunity to trust Him. This is how we “lean not” on our own understanding in Proverbs 3:5, 6. That is why God ordained we could only be saved through faith (trust in Him), not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Receiving the peace that passes understanding sometimes requires us to give up the right to understand everything.

Did you ever consider that you being in this awkward place of “not knowing” is exactly what God wants you to know? He wants us to experience the sense of not being in control. He wants our minds to be in neutral, so we can receive the subtle leadings and promptings that come from His Spirit. This season breaks us free from relying on our default pondering, planning, and predicting we naturally do. This is how we gradually learn to tune our spirit’s receiver to heaven’s radio station. Don’t be afraid to go through the passageway of “not knowing”. Not knowing is a gift from God. Yes, I said that out loud. It takes an almighty God to arrange a set of circumstances that perplexes your hyper-vigilant, have-to-be-in-control intellect, that leaves you dumbfounded.

It is quite an event, when a person in full control of their faculties and completely sure of themselves and their world one day, can wake up the next day and be totally disoriented and lost. Oh, how our worlds’ can change in a moment. It is another thing when you sense life’s circumstances or the Lord asking you, no, compelling you, to move forward during this “not knowing” place.

Have we considered that this is not a punishment, but a promotion? Maybe we have been qualified to enter this realm of “not knowing” because the Lord wishes to take us to a new level in Him. Do you remember your school days? The teacher is always silent during the test. The test is about qualifying us for promotion.

There is something cool about not understanding what’s going on in the natural, and that is the things God does reveal things to us by the Spirit. Abraham was shown he was going to be the father of nations. The Spirit reveals heavenly things to the believer, words of knowledge and wisdom. We can know a whole new, amazing world, if we are willing to step into the “not knowing place”.

For You and the Devil

Finally, there is another thing for us to consider. Perhaps God is not only teaching us something but confusing the enemy’s plan in your life, by switching up our predictable lives. The devil can forecast what we humans will do with great accuracy. After all, he’s been dealing with billions of us for thousands of years; I’m sure he has us figured out. Yet he is still stumped anytime we walk in faith. When the believer operates in pure faith, every step is a mystery to the devil and his demons. So, our anxiousness over not knowing, might evaporate if we knew this was making the enemy even more confused than us.

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand. Or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21