Grateful I Don’t Know It All

But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13

Somewhere along the line, I absorbed an untruth:

We must be experts in whatever we are expert in.

I still remember the paralysis I experienced during my Clinical Fellowship Year when a patient asked a question for which I didn’t know the answer. I thought to be a good clinician I should know the answers to all my patients’ questions. I was supposed to be an expert now. Wasn’t that why I took that awful exam to become certified?

Turns out, with my Certification of Clinical Competence, I should have received another certification: Certification of Lifelong Learning.

Learning is the secret to many things, gratitude being merely one.

I learned to be grateful for colleagues who specialized in areas in which I had no interest but could ask their advice. I made referrals. They reciprocated, and a community of interdependent professionals grew. My lack of knowledge grew my network and my friendships in the best ways. Working together improved the quality of care we gave our patients.

Later, I learned this practice applied to the body of Christ, all of whom have varied gifts and personalities. When I needed a mercy-filled perspective, I went to my friend Carol, who demonstrated the skills I lacked. She came to me when she needed to tell someone truth, but mercy was stopping her. Together, we were so much better than either could have been alone.

I’m much older and more experienced than I was back then, and of these facts I am certain:

It’s a relief not to have to know it all.

It’s a joy to be interdependent with others from whom I can learn.

It is humbling to be limited in knowledge and wisdom.

Not knowing it all facilitates authentic relationships.

I like not knowing it all.

There is an #Expert available to all who will humble themselves and admit they have much yet to #learn. Click To Tweet

His wisdom is complete yet infinite. His knowledge established the cumulus clouds floating in endless blue, the fog that settles over warm fields at dawn, the purple hue that shades the mountains near my childhood home.

Every human heart is in His full view and He examines the hidden crevices of the brightest human mind. He made me and you for community. We are much better together than we could ever be alone.

He knows everything there is to know about me, and He still loves me and patiently teaches me.

He is my Lord, and He is my God. His name is Jesus, and upon Him this expert relies.

May I never stop learning.

Lord, teach me. I want to be a lifetime learner, content to learn from You all the days of my life. Amen.

@audreycfrank