Day 3: “Lord, I Give Up My Right to Know”

Friend, do you want to walk into the next level of promotion and blessing that God has for you–but you find yourself in the middle of an unspeakable trial NOW? If so, this word of encouragement and sample prayer are for you.

If you want to do great exploits in the Kingdom of God, God will usually test you first.

And in order to pass that test and be found ready to proceed with your life, you have to give up your right to know.

Related: Click here for the 21 Days of Great Exploits FREE blog series table of contents, so you can read all the other articles in this series as well.

What do I mean by “your right to know”?

Your “right to know” is an imaginary (not real at all) “right” that we conjure up in our own heads, usually without realizing that we’re doing so. It’s the “right” that we think we have to know all the whys, hows, whens, and what-ifs from God:

• Why we’re suffering;
• When it will stop;
• What we need to do to make it stop;
• Why the suffering started in the first place;
• What you could have done to prevent this season of suffering;
• How will things turn out; and so on and so forth.

Beloved, many times in our hearts, we desire to know these things. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to know them if possible.

But where we go wrong is by refusing to trust in God, stay firm in our faith in Him, and still be happy in God even while we walk through our seasons of testing and trial–even when we don’t know ANY of the things we want to know.

And God can’t bless that attitude.

If we want to go on with God, we have to give up our perceived right to know and be willing to look to God, and God alone, instead–trusting in Him even when we have NO IDEA about any of the whens, whys, hows, and what-ifs.

Anything else is literally idolatry: the mentality that “God, I can’t be happy in You alone; I must also have XYZ answers and knowledge in order to remain content and stable.” God can never bless that; He has to take us to a place, for our own good, where we are willing to be content in Him alone: in trusting Him, knowing Him, and taking His Word at face value.

Yes: God will always take us to the place where simply knowing HIM is enough, even if we have to walk through the Refiner’s fire to get there.

Today, on Day 3 of 21 Days of Great Exploits, we’re going to look at a great exploit that Abraham did when he submitted to God’s testing.

This story is found in Genesis 22, when God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Read the story here:

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided”” (Genesis 22:1-14 NKJV).

In order to prove his faith, God tested Abraham. And Abraham submitted to this huge test—an act of obedience which was definitely a great exploit—even though he knew that Isaac was his child of promise.

By submitting to the test, Abraham gave up his “right to know”:

• He didn’t know what God would do.
• He didn’t know how God would fix this.
• He didn’t know that God would not, in fact, require him to follow through with the complete sacrifice of his son Isaac.

Abraham did not know how this would turn out, except that God asked him to give up the most precious thing he had as an act of obedience. But, he did know one thing:

He knew God.

We know that Abraham put his faith in God, even when tested to the extreme, because Hebrews 11 tells us so:

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19 NKJV).

In the passage above from Hebrews 11–the great “heroes of faith chapter”–we learn that Abraham decided to obey, keeping His eyes on God, knowing that God had made a promise and that his descendants would come through Isaac …

… and so Abraham concluded that God would have to raise Isaac from the dead if his sacrifice was required.

Abraham didn’t know that he wouldn’t have to follow through with sacrificing Isaac. He simply knew God. And although I can’t imagine how difficult and painful that test was, Abraham put his faith in God.

Not in his plan; in God.

Not in his logic; in God.

Not in anything that looked reasonable; but in God.

And friend, when you and I face tests and trials, we have to do the same thing.

We have to give up our “right to know,” and put our trust in God alone.

We all go through tests and trials, and we never know exactly how those tests and trials will turn out. For example:

• We don’t know WHEN God will change it.
• We don’t know when breakthrough will come.
• We don’t know how on earth God is going to work THIS thing out for our good.
• We don’t know how long we will have to suffer.
• We don’t know why on earth God is even allowing this thing to happen in the first place.
• We don’t know WHAT we are supposed to do to resolve it.
• We have no idea what we did, if anything, that caused God to allow this test or trial to happen to us.
• When we take steps to try and resolve the test and escape the trial, we never know if the steps we take are actually going to bring resolution or not. Every action could be the path to breakthrough–or it could also be another part of the learning experience.

O friend, in this humanistic world, we can sometimes get addicted to our right to know.

We want to know “Why, God, why?” and “When, God, when?” … but God doesn’t always tell us those things.

I do believe He will speak to us about these things if we ask Him to, but the answers He gives are not always what we wish He would say. For example, during one of the most difficult trials of my life, I asked God why, and He took me to Deuteronomy 8 and told me why:

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3 NKJV).

Sometimes He allows us to be tested and tried to teach us that man does not live by bread alone …

… in other words, that we do not get our sustenance and strength and help from any human or fleshly source …

… and He allows us to walk through the fire to teach us that we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

You and I might not think that’s a very important lesson to learn, but God thinks it’s one of the most important lessons we could EVER learn. Therefore, yes, He puts us in His refining fire to teach us to depend on Him, to know Him, and to even share in His sufferings so that we can be conformed to His image:

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish,

that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11 NKJV).

So, friend, we have to give up our right to know–and content ourselves with only knowing GOD:

• With knowing He is faithful and true, even when our world around us seems to be shattering more each moment.
• With knowing that He is with us, even when we see no progress.
• With knowing that He is good; and that, even if He allows seasons of testing and trial, it’s only so He can work it out for our good.

And above all those facts, we must be satisfied simply with knowing HIM:

• As a Person;
• As Faithful and True;
• As the Lover of our soul;
• As our Comforter and Help;
• As our Glory and the Lifter of our head;
• As our Savior and Redeemer;
• As our Faithful Friend Who sticks closer than a brother;
• As our good and generous Father;
• As Wonderful, Counselor, (and as our Wonderful Counselor as well), Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

We simply have to know Jesus, our Father God, and His precious Holy Spirit … and let that be enough.

As we read in Hebrews 12:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).

It is a huge part of our spiritual growth and maturity to learn to simply look to Jesus, and to let that be enough. And that level of faith, my friend, is in and of itself a great exploit …

… and eventually, you will get to a place in God where He requires that level of faith from you in order to move you into greater exploits and your next place of promotion and blessing.

Are you willing to give up your right to know, so that you can move forward with Jesus into all the great exploits He has for you?

If so, pray with me as follows:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You in Jesus’ name.

Abba Father, thank You for loving me and setting me free. Thank You for saving me from sin, for filling me with Your Holy Spirit, and for transforming me progressively every day into the image of Jesus. Thank You for never giving up on me; for having good plans for my life, and for watching over me and ordering my steps every day.

Abba Father, I choose to trust You today–and to give up my right to know.

My flesh wants to know all the things, Lord: all the whys and whens and details and what-ifs. However, Father, I recognize that that’s not how You always work–and that Your ways are better and higher than my ways.

Therefore, Father, in Jesus’ name, I choose to look only to You today:

• I give up my perceived right to know everything about my situation, and about why it happened, and why it is happening still, and when and how You are going to fix it for me.
• I know that this “right to know” only existed in my head and preferences; You never promised me that You would explain all these details to me in every moment anyway.
• And so I choose to look to You, Jesus, for You are the Author and Finisher of my faith.
• I choose to set my eyes on things above, where You are, gazing at You so closely that You fill up my entire horizon and eclipse all my troubles.

Father God, Lord Jesus, and precious Holy Spirit, I do not know what to do–but my eyes are on You.

You are enough. You are my All-Sufficient King. You are sovereign, and You are Lord over my life. I trust You, Father, and I commit myself into Your hands. I will still ask You for breakthrough and help, and I commit to following You in whatever You tell me to do.

But, Father, I choose to give up my sense of injustice when You do not tell me what I want to know about my situation.

I forgive You for not doing what I wanted You to do, when I wanted You to do it. I know You did no wrong at all, and that You never could do wrong; but I have held a grudge against You, and I have been upset with You for keeping me in the dark about this. Please forgive me, Father.

I recognize now that You are the Light of the world, Jesus.

I admit and believe and confess Your truth right now: that I will have guidance and light and strength as long as I keep my eyes on You, even when I do not know what You are doing or why and how You are doing it.

Thank You for this, Lord. I repent for my sin, and I thank You for forgiving me according to 1 John 1:9. Please forgive me for my anger toward You. Cover me with the blood of Jesus and fill me with Your Holy Spirit where those things were, and help me to trust You from now forward.

I give up my right to know, Father, and I place it and myself in Your hands.

Please take care of me and work all things out for my good. I know You will, for You are Faithful and True.

Thank You, Abba Father. In Jesus’ holy and precious name I pray, amen.”

Beloved, Abraham did a great exploit of faith and passed a test.

He passed the test by choosing to keep His eyes on God, knowing Who God is–and that God is/was sufficient to solve his problem and the aftermath of it. He didn’t know how things would turn out; he only knew that God is faithful.

And no matter what you’re struggling with today, beloved, the same is true for you:

• God is faithful.
• All your suffering is worth the pain, that you may know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings, and the power of His resurrection …
• That you may be conformed more to His image …
• And that He will find you faithful and qualified to carry all the good plans He has for you in your future.

Does this message about giving up your right to know minister to your heart today? If so, leave a comment and share your thoughts below!