Monday, August 16: The limitations of the human brain

One of the quotations that cadets were required to memorize at the United States Air Force Academy was engraved on a statue of an eagle and its fledglings at the terrazzo level of the campus:

“Man’s flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge.” ---Austin “Dusty” Miller

Unless the quotation is referring to man’s knowledge of God, Miller and the believers in that statement are placing undue emphasis on the power of man, rather than He who created man. While man’s knowledge has certainly increased throughout history, we continue to find that scholars throughout each generation knew much less than thought at the time. The “practice of medicine” is a prime example, as it certainly would not be deemed a practice if it was perfect! If man’s knowledge was so important, Ponce de Leon would not have been searching for a fountain of youth.


In regard to God, the limitations of the human brain always seem to have man putting God in a box. Because man’s abilities and knowledge are finite, even Christians sometimes operate as if God is only a bigger, better man. Yet to truly understand God is to grasp that He has no limits, other than His own nature! Yes, there are some things that God cannot do. He cannot lie, nor sin in any way. Nor can He change. God doesn’t continue to learn; He always has known all there is to know. It occurred to me that God never has uttered the line, “It occurred to Me!” Most beneficial to us as believers is that God never can let us down, leave us or forsake us!


Along these lines, Christians seem to struggle most in the area of prayer. The amazing ways that God answers prayer are rarely in the mundane manner we ask for His answers!


17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19

Without God’s help, man has no chance in comprehending His dimensions, but as we grow as Christians, God stretches us. Those stretches occur in every way, with one of those being a deeper understanding of who He is. It’s much like other relationships as the more time we spend with God, the better we will know Him. Consequently, the better we know Him, the more likely we are to ask for His will to be done when we pray, rather than a specific answer. God cannot answer your prayer if it is contrary to His will! Let God stretch you to have a deeper understanding of who He is!


that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Hebrews 6:18