My grandfather tried to teach my grandmother how to drive one day. She hadn’t had an opportunity to learn as a young woman, but once her five children were out of the house, she figured the time was right. He sat in the passenger seat while she adjusted herself behind the wheel. “Okay,” he began, “put the key in, turn it, and gently tap the gas pedal.”

“Why?” asked my granny.

“Why what? What do you mean? That’s how you start the car.”

“Yes, but why? How does it work? What’s happening as I do all of that?”

My grandfather’s response is not appropriate for a church bulletin (the Lord’s name plus several other words were strung together) and he gave up teaching her on the spot. He was not a patient man and I believe she was using this moment to make a stark point: His “mastery” of the automobile was superficial at best. His ability to drive was nice, but it didn’t mean he understood the thermal combustion engine. By all accounts, they had an… interesting marriage.

How much of our mastery of this life is superficial? When we begin to examine things, we’re not masters of much. Every day thousands of patients go under general anesthesia for surgery. Did you know we don’t know why it works? We understand the effects, the risks, and the huge benefits but not the precise processes interrupted in the nervous system. We have discovered a tool and we use it to wonderful ends, but our certainty about it does not extend as far as we might imagine.

Humankind has reached an amazing time in history where information on any topic can be delivered instantly – often with an engaging video! This access extends in every direction around the globe. How easy it is to begin to think we have things mastered. In so many areas, human beings live life on a level of understanding that comes closer to walking by faith than by sight. Notice the definition of faith in Hebrews:

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1, ESV

We trust in unseen, unmeasured processes every day. God reveals Himself through observable evidence (Romans 1:19-20) and our faith continues to broaden as we seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). To the unbelieving, this may look like leaps of fancy. They are convinced that their knowledge is certain while ours is unscientific whimsy. Meanwhile, both the believer and the unbeliever walk in a dense fog of ignorance. The Christian admits to limited understanding, but also trusts in the One who has true mastery over it all (I Corinthians 13:12).

Don’t fall for the idea that people of faith are the only ones operating by faith. The certainties of life hang by a thread and often evade easy explanation. When your certainties slip, find firm footing again with the One who remains the same.