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NASB | Deuteronomy 29:29 ¶ "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 29:29 ¶ "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things which are revealed and disclosed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may do all of the words of this law. |
Bible Question:
What if? What if the Bible dealt with "What ifs"? As far as I can tell, it doesn't. I know I don't. |
Bible Answer: Dear friend Kalos: For a dozen or more years a practicing psychiatrist was a faithful member of the Sunday school class I taught. Looking back to that time, I suspect that I learned infinitely more from this wise Christian physician than he did from me. I remember still some of his comments about the devastating effects of playing what he called the "what if" game have on a person's mental and emotional well-being. According to him, people needlessly and foolishly torture themselves -- "drive themselves nuts" was the medical term he used :-) -- when they fret over the possibilites of "what if's" in their lives: What if I lose my job? What if my spouse walks out on me? What if I contract a terminal illness? What if I'm involved in a car wreck or plane crash? What if my kids get hooked on drugs? What if? .... the list is practically endless. ..... The advice of my psychiatrist friend was much the same as humorist James Thurber's was: Let your mind alone. ..... The good doctor pointed out that thinking the stinking what-if thoughts brought many people to his psychiatric couch seeking a cure for the misery they had brought upon themselves. ..... And if playing the what-if game in matters of one's personal life and affairs can cause so much trouble, I suspect it can cause a great deal of trouble in one's spiritual life and theology as well. I've never liked what-if questions much, particularly what if's concerning God and His word. Such questions seem to be lacking in reverence for one thing, and vain for another. I rather think of what-if theological questions as being in the same bag with the "profane and idle babblings" that Paul told young Timothy to avoid (see, for example, 1 Tim.6:20) ..... And, like you Kalos, I've never been able to see any real evidence that Scripture deals in speculative, what-if stuff. I attribute that to the fact that, since all Scripture is God-breathed, it doesn't have to deal with speculative what-if's. God doesn't need to speculate. He knows. ..... And perhaps if His people used their time wisely in diligent study of what He has clearly revealed, they wouldn't need (or have time) to speculate either. --Hank |