What the Bible Does Not Say.

Today I take a bit of a risk to offer my thoughts out-loud. I grew up in the church and have served in pastoral ministry for many years. I have been taught that the Bible speaks about every issue or life’s circumstances. Today I want to consider what the Bible does not say.

Before you kick me out of the church for even daring to suggest that the Bible is somehow incomplete, I want to assure you that I fully believe that the Bible is God’s Word and is complete, without error. I fully embrace the belief that it is sharper than any two-edge sword and can penetrate into the very soul of mankind. God’s Word is God speaking to us through men and women, through illustration and fact, through wisdom and Truth.

I have read through the Scriptures and have made careful study of a wide range of topics. I am preached from its pages and have sought through quiet meditation and devotion the Truth through a very personal encounter with God and His Word.

Yet, today’s thought is considering for just a moment what the Bible me not speak about. In fact, God’s Word may have never intended to speak about everything, directly. I believe this to be deliberate and not by accident. I hope that you don’t consider my comments heresy.

Do I have your attention? I hope so because often people miss this idea. Perhaps we can’t clearly understand what the Bible does not say because there are so many tools and resources that speak about every topic or condition known to mankind. We have the Bible translated in many different ways and languages. We have Bible helps and books that expand our understanding of the scripture. We have commentaries and topics indexed so that we could easily find a wide range of information and even a list of the promises God has made to us. There are those who have studied God’s prophecies and helps us to understand what the meaning of the prophets were and of what is yet to come.

So, dare I approach the subject of what the Bible does not say? Should I be this audacious and even risk being perceived to be rude as I write this thought out loud?

Nevertheless, here I go. I have often wondered and thought, what does the Bible not say?
We are instructed to pray for God‘s specific Will. We are encouraged to memorize the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6 and even gain a deeper understanding of the prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples and for us in John 17. We are told that as we pray against God’s Will that we are praying demonic elements in our prayer. We are encouraged to pray and seek God in all things. Yet, The Bible does not speak about everything as we are taught that it does.

When I was young I was told that God has a plan for my life. As I memorized scripture I found principles that guided me and even promised me that I would know His Will for my life. Scriptures that became very familiar to me helped me feel confident that I will know His Will. Passages like, Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 3:5-6, and Romans 8:28.

What the Bible does not say ...

... is His specific Will for our lives.

Certainly it tells me about his plan of salvation for me. It tells me the many promises that guide my life and give me hope. The Bible tells me how to walk in faith and develop spiritually yet, it does not say what His specific Will is for our lives. You may say to yourself, of course it doesn’t! You may even think that I’m a bit naïve in my assumption that it does. You may even say to yourself that I am foolish by not understanding the scripture.

Maybe this was my journey and not yours but I wrestled with this idea for many years. At times the Bible even jumps off the pages for me, but knowing His Will was a mystery. I don’t go around thinking that I am not in His Will by any measure but the journey of discovering His Will for my life is ever present even today.

Without going into much detail of my journey let me simply say that I pray for His Will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for lost souls who have not found peace or hope because clearly the Bible offers both through salvation. That which I do know of what the Lord promises I do pray. That which I have a understanding and God‘s plan, I do pray for others. I even offer a bit of a prophetic voice for those who have no relationship with God through Christ as I do pray for them. I begin my prayers with a clear understanding of who God is as Lord and His full majesty.

To find that specific Calling and His Will for my life is a journey. It is a walk that I take, hand-in-hand with God through Jesus Christ. It is not as clear as leaping through scripture with my eyes closed and landing my finger on a specific verse. I don’t test God By saying, "If you show me your Will in this one area of my, life, I will follow." It isn’t as easy as that!

 To discover His Will for my life is a journey. 

To discover His Will for my life takes great faith.

To discover His Will for my life requires humility.

Never-the-less, once His specific Will for my life is discovered, it opens the door for every kind of help while discovering Spiritual Gifts. It gives us His peace that passes all understanding as well as other elements of the Fruit if the Spirit. It will unfold for us all His promises as we know more clearly His Will for our lives.

The Bible tells us that we must first seek Him, as searching for gold or silver. We then can know our purpose and His Will for our lives!