A Word About Guessing

When I use the word ‘guess,’ … I’ve noticed that I’m rarely guessing. How about you? A guess is an estimate or a supposition about some fact that I don’t have exact information about. I mean, if you ask me how far it is to the next town, as we’re driving down the freeway, I might say ‘I would guess it to be about 15 miles.’  That usage of the word ‘guess’ is an estimate or a supposing about some fact, without being precise or insistent that I’m correct. In other words, when I say ‘I would guess …’ it implies that I’m not being exact. I’m being ‘iffy.’ I’m just, well, guessing. And sometimes when I use that word — ‘guessing’ is exactly what I’m doing.

But how many times do I use the word ‘guess’ when I don’t really mean what that word implies? Ever sit with a friend over coffee, explaining how worried you are about your finances, and at the end of that conversation you say something like, “I guess I’ll just have to trust the Lord?” or “I guess I’m just a worry wart?” Are you really guessing? I don’t think so. In fact, I’m guessing that often when I use the word ‘guessing’ … I’m not guessing at all. I’m not guessing I’m a worry wart. There’s no guess to it. It’s an absolute fact.

One of the most assuring elements of my relationship with God is that He is a God Who Never Guesses. He never guesses about how his plan in my life is working out; he doesn’t estimate my life expectancy, and g uess how long I’ll live, like some insurance company wondering if I’m a good risk for life insurance. The God Who Never Guesses is a God Who Knows, Absolutely. No uncertainty. No wondering.

A few years ago, my wife and I got to take a tour of the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place that moved me in such a profound way. To think that those ancient cobbled streets were the same streets that Paul walk along cause me to appreciate the rich heritage of my faith. In Eph. 3, we can read a prayer Paul prayed, an incredible prayer for those believers in Ephesus. He prayed that they will be ‘rooted and grounded in love.’ He wants them to be able to comprehend the breadth, and length, and the height and depth of the love of Jesus.’ My favorite part of that section of scripture is that he wants those Ephesian believers to ‘know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge and be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

In kingdom living, there’s a strange paradox, I think, when I consider the difference between ‘guessing’ and knowing. I’ve been aware of the love of God toward me, most of my life. But I’d be hard pressed to describe the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Jesus … How about you? No matter how many lofty words you use to define those boundaries, you’d only be guessing. No one will ever never know, this side of heaven, the totality of the unmatched love of Jesus. 

And that’s not a guess. It’s a fact.