June 9 Application | ‘Learning About God in Unexpected Ways’

By David Faust 

I didn’t expect to learn anything about God at the dentist’s office—but I did. My dental hygienist chatted with me while she cleaned my teeth. (She did most of the talking.) Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, she explained, and “each tooth is composed of millions of tiny rods or tubules.” These oblong crystals, which are about 1,000 times narrower than a human hair, protect against tooth decay and equip us for decades of chewing.  

“Just one more reason to believe in God’s creative design,” I managed to mumble, and my hygienist nodded in agreement. 

Surprising Classrooms 

The Lord isn’t confined to church buildings. Moses heard from the Lord at a burning bush and on a mountaintop. David encountered God while hiding in caves from angry King Saul.  

Jesus’ disciples learned about God while sailing across a lake, walking on a road, eating at dinner tables, and debating with antagonists. Paul’s faith grew stronger on sinking ships and in prison cells. Peter gained new insights about God in a place he never expected to visit—the home of a Gentile named Cornelius. John received amazing revelations while he was exiled on the island of Patmos. 

Surprising Teachers  

Preachers and seminary professors have a lot to teach us, but so do new believers and little kids. And so do atheists and doubters whose questions make us dig deeper into the Scriptures and think harder about what we believe. 

King Nebuchadnezzar learned about God from a surprising source. When no one could explain his troubling dream, the irritated and sleep-deprived monarch confronted his advisors with an impossible-sounding demand. He wanted them to tell him what he dreamed and its interpretation.  

“Let the king tell his servants your dream, and we will interpret it,” they answered nervously (Daniel 2:7), but when the king persisted, they said, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks!” (v. 10).  

Eventually, the king discovered a surprising instructor among the young Jewish exiles. The Lord gave Daniel a detailed explanation of the dream and its meaning. Daniel’s insight amazed the king, but the young prophet didn’t take personal credit. He told Nebuchadnezzar, “This mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive” (v. 30). Instead, Daniel gave glory to God who “reveals deep and hidden things” (v. 22). 

Surprising Lessons  

According to the king’s advisors, no one could reveal his dream “except the gods, and they do not live among humans” (v. 11). (Some translations of that verse say the gods’ “dwelling is not with flesh.”) But the New Testament presents a startling truth: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).  

God can do what appears impossible to us. He even knows what we dream at night. He has revealed deep and hidden things through creation and through the writings of his prophets and apostles. But his supreme revelation came through Jesus Christ, who is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3).  

It’s stunning to realize the Creator himself came to earth, took on human flesh, taught lessons that left people “amazed at his teaching” (Matthew 7:28)—and ultimately sacrificed his own life to show us grace. The songwriter was right to say, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.” 

Personal Challenge: What amazes you about the Lord? How have you seen his wisdom and power demonstrated in your life? 

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David Faust’s new book, Not Too Old: Turning Your Later Years into Greater Years, was released April 10. It is available from College Press and Amazon. To read an article/excerpt from Not Too Old, click here.