Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. (Ps. 119:129–130)
Watching television with one of my elderly parishioners in a nursing home room, I shared her excitement as Wheel of Fortune came on. Each time Vanna White dropped a letter into place, my friend called out a variety of possible word combinations. Frustrated, she yelled at the screen, wishing for any of the contestants to hear her suggestions. She grew quiet when a revealed letter made her guess invalid. When the phrase was ultimately made clear, she turned to me and said, “I don’t get why they couldn’t see that! I had it guessed right from the start!” I just smiled. Generally, the right answer becomes clear once all the words have fallen into place. But sometimes it’s hard to see where things are going when there is so much chatter and so much distraction going on around you. And, even worse, host Pat Sajak seems to know the answers all along!
If we follow God’s Word as he reveals it to us, we will discover that things make sense in the end. We obey his commands because they are wonderful to us. Sometimes we understand them as we do them; sometimes the light comes on after his words have unfolded before us. We would be wise to move along with the pace that he shows us.
Don’t get too far ahead of what God is unfolding before you.
Rich Eckley is professor of theology at Houghton College and serves on the Women in Ministry Task Force for The Wesleyan Church.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
