We Know This Place Too Well
Rediscover the awe, wonder, mystery, and adventure of being alive in God.

Cadet Peter Dyrud, United States Air Force Academy

Editor's Note - Peter Dyrud is a leader of OCF at the Air Force Academy who sends out periodical essays. This is a recent one we thought worthwhile for any Christian anywhere. Obviously, there is some in-house jargon from the academy. But…we think you will get his message, anyway.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 'Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?' For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen" (Romans 11:33-36). We know this place too well…

When did we stop living in a state of wonder? Remember when we first got here for BCT, how we didn't know where anything was and we were constantly surprised and we couldn't wait for every last bite at Mitch's? Sure, the surprises weren't always good ones. And sure, it was fear sometimes, like, "Huh, I've never seen that hill before that looks too steep to climb without an elevator. I wonder what they use it for and why we're running toward it…" But there was mystery, excitement, apprehension, relief, joy, pain, hope, blood, sweat, and sometimes tears. Each day was definitely new. We were alive!

Remember our smiles the first time we didn't have to run the strips? We were alive! Remember the first time looking down from the summit of a Colorado mountain? We were alive! Remember the first time we opened our eyes and saw the light of day? Neither do I, but I bet we weren't bored. Or cynical. ("The doctors only took me out of Mom's womb so it would look good on their performance reports. How dare they not care about my morale!")

Where are we now? I applaud everyone who still walks to breakfast with a shamelessly huge smile and wide eyes fixed in the direction of heaven, our future home. Most of us don't, and it's because we think we know everything. We think we deserve to be here and are entitled to every breath we breathe. We're settled in like machines for another day, because our goal is to just get through it. Dare I say…we even think we know God. We can predict what He will do next. Surely He's satisfied with our halfhearted glances toward holiness. We have everything mapped out-our lives, our futures, those really annoying people, our friends, our school, and our God.

We are so wrong. Yes, we can know God personally (a privilege NEVER to be taken for granted), and indeed I believe it should be our life's goal, but we could never comprehend every facet of His personality nor know Him in the way that He knows us. There are still cool and different little rooms in every building here that I never knew existed, and it makes USAFA more exciting when I stumble across them. When I discover a true gifting in one of my friends that I didn't know was there, it makes me happy! How much more when I see a new aspect of my Best Friend.

It's about mystery, humility, and a hunger to learn more about Someone because of how much we love Him. There's always an element of mystery to falling in love. USAFA is more exciting when we stumble across a new area we never knew existed. God is more exciting when we dig deep into every word of Scripture…every single day. When we know how much we can't understand, we witness the birth of awe, wonder, and adventure. The well is infinitely deep, yet we barely scratched the icy surface before we got tired. It's time to continue the exploration! Let's become like little children, so that we may win the prize greater than that of any world class athlete. Because if the race ends tomorrow, as it quite possibly could, there will be plenty of people still at the starting line. We "know" this place too well…