You don’t need more detail, just do what you’re asked.
In the Old Testament story of Samson, before he was born an angel came to his mother with some simple instructions:
Don’t drink wine, don’t eat anything unclean, don’t shave his head. And your son will begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines.
She told her husband Manoah about it, and he wanted to meet with the angel himself.
That makes perfect sense to most people.
If you’re told you’re going to raise a child set apart for something important, you probably want more than a few lines of instruction. So he asks for it, and God sends the angel back.
And nothing new is added.
Same instructions. Same limits. No extra detail. No roadmap. Not even a name.
They got a second chance to ask, and still didn’t get what they were looking for.
People ask for clarity when what they really want is control. They want to understand the outcome before they commit, to make sure it makes sense first.
That’s not what they were given.
They were told what to do, and that was it. No explanation of how Samson’s life would unfold. No outline of how this would deliver Israel. No reassurance that it would go smoothly.
Just do this.
Then Manoah asks for the name. Most of us probably would. If something significant is happening, you want to know who you’re dealing with.
The answer he gets is basically, “Why do you need to know that?”
In other words, you don’t.
We think more information will make us more faithful. Usually it just makes us more selective.
If we know the outcome, we can decide if it’s worth it. If we understand the plan, we can adjust it. If we know the why, we can negotiate the how.
That’s not obedience, it’s management. But we aren’t the manager. God is.
Look at your own life.
You feel like you should do something. Call someone, stop something, start something. It doesn’t seem efficient. It doesn’t seem important.
So you wait. Or you tweak it into something that makes more sense to you. Or you ask for more confirmation.
I’ve done that. Most people have.
It sounds responsible and thoughtful, but usually it’s hesitation. Sometimes it’s just disobedience dressed up as wisdom.
Much later, Jesus tells Peter something about how his life will end. Peter immediately points at someone else and asks, “What about him?”
And the answer he gets is, what is that to you?
Follow me.
Same idea.
You don’t need to know his path to walk yours. You don’t need the full picture to take the next step.
You don’t need better instructions.
You already have enough.
P.S. If you’d like to read through the Bible this year, you can join us at His Word Together.
No commentary.
No telling you what to think.
Nothing to buy.
Nothing fancy.
Just steady time in the Word.
