trust the results of faith and not what you think you know

I was thinking about the story in Luke 4 where Jesus declares himself to be the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for to the people in his hometown synagog. Their response:

22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?

I suppose there were many different and individual reason why they didn't accept him. He wasn't what many of them were expecting the Messiah to be. Some had watched him grow up and could not accept someone so "known" to be more than what they knew him to be.

I think it's far to easy for us to do the same thing. We often have preconceived notions of who God is and what He does/can do in our lives -- which closes our eyes to His declarations to us; when He manifests himself to us in daily life or speaks to us through others...we brush it off because what we "know" tells us that we "know better."

We do it to other people too. To the apostles who speak in God's name, we shrug our shoulders and discount their words. To friends and family who have received the blessing of repentance and forgiveness, we stay half turned away because "they won't change." 

We trust too much what we know and expect. Not to say there is no validity in knowing and understanding... I just believe that we need to be more open to having everything we thought we knew tossed out the window for greater light and truth -- or for a trial of faith.

Faith placed in who God really is and what he can really do, in the words of those with the authority to speak in God's name, and in people who have truly repented and come unto Christ will bear sweet results:

For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil (Moroni 7:11).