How often do we miss the point entirely?

Perhaps too often.

From Simply Christian, by N.T. Wright (as he writes about Jesus' sometimes indirect answers to his apostles' questions)

Many of the questions we ask God can't be answered directly, not because God doesn't know the answers, but because our questions don't make sense. As C.S. Lewis once pointed out, many of our question are, from God's point of view, rather like someone asking, "Is yellow square or round?" or "How many hours are there in a mile?"