This is part of my year-long series exploring human-centered alternatives to the spiritual promises in Oswald Chambers’ classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. Today’s entry, “Determine to Know More”, promises that believers who abandon safety and “launch all on God” will have their eyes spiritually opened and receive divine knowledge automatically when they act on what they know, with God granting supernatural insight and personal transformation.
Here’s a different approach:
When Dr. Rebecca Chen felt stuck in her comfortable university research position, her spiritual director urged her to “launch all on God” and leave for missionary work in Southeast Asia. “God wants you to be something you’ve never been,” he insisted. “You’re playing it safe in the harbor when you should be out in the great deeps of his purpose.”
Rebecca had always been drawn to international development work, but the spiritual framing troubled her. The idea that God would supernaturally grant her knowledge and discernment if she just took a leap of faith seemed reckless, especially when considering work that would affect vulnerable communities.
Instead of making a dramatic spiritual leap, Rebecca chose careful preparation. She spent a year learning Khmer and studying Cambodia’s history, politics, and development challenges. She connected with organizations already working there and listened to Cambodian voices about what kinds of help were actually needed versus what well-meaning foreigners typically offered.
She volunteered with refugee resettlement programs locally to understand cross-cultural dynamics and her own biases. She took courses in sustainable development practices and studied the history of failed aid projects that had caused more harm than good.
When Rebecca finally moved to Cambodia, it wasn’t because God had broken her moorings with a storm, but because she’d methodically prepared herself to contribute meaningfully. Her “spiritual discernment” came not from divine revelation but from months of research, language study, and listening to people who knew the context far better than she did.
The knowledge she gained wasn’t granted supernaturally—it was earned through patient study and humble recognition of what she didn’t know. Her eyes were opened not by divine intervention but by Cambodian colleagues who taught her about local customs, effective approaches, and the unintended consequences of foreign aid.
Rebecca discovered that her spiritual destiny wasn’t mystically predetermined but practically constructed through education, relationships, and choosing to serve in ways that genuinely helped rather than simply satisfying her own need for purpose. The transformation she experienced came not from launching recklessly into God’s purpose but from carefully preparing to serve effectively in partnership with people who welcomed her contribution.
Reflection Question: When has careful preparation and listening to others led to better outcomes than taking dramatic leaps of faith?
This story is part of my upcoming book “The Undevoted: Daily Departures from Divine Dependence,” which offers 365 human-centered alternatives to the spiritual certainties in Chambers’ devotional. Each day explores how reason, community, and human resilience can address life’s challenges without requiring divine intervention.
God or Delusion? 