In The Hands Of Experts
Experts Come And Go, But Hope Endures
by Eric Elkin
“Don’t put your life in the hands of experts.” This is the advice of the psalmist in Psalm 146. My immediate reaction is to ask, is it sound advice? Is it possible to live without trusting experts? Though the wisdom is thousands of years old, it does strike a modern nerve. There is no shortage of people these days questioning the wisdom of experts.
Distrust can blind us from being wise. Do people realize how much of our lives are in the hands of people we never met? People who in their own way, are experts. We put our lives in the hands of automotive experts every day. Every time we drive a car, our lives are in the hands of designers, builders, and mechanics.
I believe in the healing power of prayer. However, given a choice between prayer and a doctor when addressing a fractured bone, I trust the medical expert first. Prayer is a beautiful addition, but it does not protect a broken bone like a cast. Nor does prayer help with pain like acetaminophen.
We put our lives in the hands of experts all the time. Life is not possible without it. Think about how many ”experts” are involved in getting food on your plate. Food that you can trust to consume. Or the wisdom required to shop online and get your product at home.
Our problem is rooted in the volume of available experts. Everyone seems to be a specialist these days. The most amazing thing is these authorities need no credentials, only a platform. The internet feels like a modern-day version of city streets in the 1800s. Streets filled with miracle cures and magic elixirs.
One thing that is important to point out is that the psalmist is not addressing your cholesterol level, bone structure, or purchase power. The psalmist is talking about your life. Life in terms of physical, mental, and spiritual health. These three elements of human existence shape our hope. Hope is something more significant than the latest cultural conditions.
Someday, Amazon will fade from existence just like Sears did. Driverless cars will replace our current cars, just like automobiles replaced horses. The McCarthy era ended, so did the Vietnam War. Eventually, radical political division comes to an end. The one thing that endures it all is words of life and a God willing to speak them into our ears. Speak them so we might have hope and new life.
Click to read Psalm 146
Reflection Questions:
Who are the experts you trust?
How do they help you with living a full life?
Which “experts” do you wish would be quiet?
What is the hope which endures every generation? What does that hope look like in your life?