Say What!?

Speechless. I’m not often speechless, but some news an employee relayed to me one morning left me without words. It wasn’t one of those “standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon” speechless moments, nor was it a moment where words just wouldn’t do, like trying to describe God, where all of the superlatives in our language are downright lacking and simply will not do Him justice. It was a moment where I was absolutely dumbstruck. As he waited for me to respond, thoughts raced through my mind, but after several failed attempts to form any one of them intelligently with my mouth, I resigned myself to quietly tell him that I would get back to him later. What had me tongue-tied? I’m glad you asked.

Part of my job was to compliment the drawings (blueprints) for building projects with written project specifications. If the prints were considered the quantitative part of the project information, the specifications were the qualitative part. The legal contracts that accompanied both prints and specifications identified me as the person who was responsible for clarifying any discrepancies between the documents. If something didn’t make sense, the directions were to call me and ask for clarification, especially before submitting a quote for the work requested in the documents, and definitely before any contracts were signed. I appreciated the difficulty of preparing bids for building projects, so I would often consult with tradesmen and include terms and phrases in the documents that were understandable to those who would build the project. Even then I had no illusions that there would be no questions. Anytime I tried to convey an idea from a client’s head or a dream from my head onto paper, and then into someone else’s head for the purpose of having it constructed, I expected questions - and lots of them.

Here’s what left me without words. Well into the construction of a project, one of my employees observed a contractor deviating from the project specs.; the work performed was not in compliance with the contract requirements. When notified of the discrepancy, the contractor reviewed the requirements, then said, “I know that is what it says, but that’s not what Dave meant.”

Say What!? That’s what it says, but that’s not what I meant?! Those words came from a person I had never met and never worked with before, yet he was perfectly comfortable saying that he knew the intentions of my mind, so there was no need for any questions. As I spun around in my chair wondering how I might have been clearer, I realized I couldn’t have been. There was no disagreement as to the meaning of the words I chose – they conveyed exactly what was required. That his actions and my words were at odds with each other was a problem, but that the obvious contradiction didn’t cause him to ask me any questions was an even bigger problem. He chose not to call. That left me speechless.

Although that particular situation seemed new to me, it was disturbingly and vaguely familiar. I wondered why; then it hit me. From the very beginning, men and women have been in the same situation with God. God was very clear in His instructions to Adam and Eve to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17), yet they ate of it. No questions asked. They opted not to seek His counsel. When the evil one planted doubt in their minds, instead of going back to God and asking Him if, in fact, they had understood His words correctly, Adam and Eve plunged their teeth into the forbidden fruit. The vaguely familiar part was that I remembered Adam and Eve doing that; the disturbingly familiar part was that I have behaved in the same way with God. I haven’t always gone back to ask Him questions when the evil one spoke lies into my life regarding God’s intentions. I have no excuse for not going back to Him, because God is abundantly clear in James 1:5. He says, “If you need wisdom - if you want to know what God wants you to do - ask Him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.”

That’s right! God, our generous Father, will not resent us asking Him for clarity; He will gladly give us wisdom if we ask. He gives us the Holy Spirit – the Counselor. The idea that He’s too busy to be bothered by me is a lie! The thought that I shouldn’t have questions is a lie! It is never O.K. for my actions to contradict God’s words. I’ve come to realize that what God has dreamed in His mind for me is so much bigger than anything I can easily understand, so He expects and wants me to ask Him questions - lots and lots of questions. He wants you to ask questions too.

Grace to you.

Dave Paukner