My message today is on what it means to Understand.
I’m sure if you thought for just a moment, you could find a handful of things about life that you do not understand, things you cannot comprehend, or things you cannot make sense of. This message is not about how much or how many things you know and understand; rather, it is about your ability to discover what is not clear without using what is clearly before you. It is about your ability to make sense of what is not known without using what you do know. The ability to understand is vital to having a strong relationship with God for there will be more times when we will have to understand more than what God says; we will have to understand Who God is.
In Daniel 10:12, scripture speaks to our ability to understand. It tells of an Angel who came to Daniel and spoke to him. “Then he said to me, ‘Do not fear Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.'” Now, we don’t know exactly what Daniel’s words were, but that is the nature of understanding. I believe he was simply seeking understanding that could only come from God. Whatever he said, his words obviously moved God to act by sending an Angel to Daniel with an answer. Why?
Now, I don’t know about you, but I will acknowledge that I have struggled with a lack of understanding more than I would like to admit. There are lots of practical things we just don’t get. So I suppose that should explain why there are many more spiritual things about God that we do not understand but we should. For me, I even know why I did not always understand as I should. It is because I often waited until I had a problem then I went to God for understanding so I could decide what I wanted to do. I’m sure there are many others like this, who foolishly live on their own understanding apart from Him until they have problems they cannot solve. Then they run to Him with those problems seeking to understand what they should do.
But thank the Lord for examples like Daniel. For he revealed to us the fallacy of our ways. You see, Daniel did three things to become a person of understanding that we should all do. First, he set his heart to understand His God and not just his problems. Then he humbled himself with his need for understanding before his God such that he kept his fleshly understanding from controlling his behaviors. And finally, Daniel did not seek God’s understanding just so he could learn how to get out of a tight situation – he sought to be a person of understanding so that in a tight situation the power and favor of God would be revealed to others.
So this is what it means to understand: set your heart to understand the nature of God and humble yourself in this need before Him so that you are not tempted to use your own strength or the devices of man to escape your tight spots. To understand God is to Stand Under God for all that you are. Live a Delivered Life. Love you.
Live Delivered 