When was the last time you came to the realization that you had been wrong the whole time? Was it a misunderstanding with your spouse or a friend? A decision at work or about your personal finances?
I don’t do it enough…think about the way I’m thinking…the way I’m believing…
Have you got God all figured out yet?
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. – I Corinthians 13: 12
Mirrors back then were not like the one you have today or the ones we use to see distant galaxies. They were like looking at shimmering puddle of water.
We all carry around so many biases in our thinking.
- Confirmation bias – the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions.
- Self-serving bias – perceiving oneself responsible for desirable outcomes but not responsible for undesirable ones.
- Just-world phenomenon – the tendency for people to believe that the world is just and therefore people “get what they deserve.”
We end up believing that we know much more than we really do. Sometimes we run the risk of making big assumptions about how God thinks and will act. We interpret our circumstances with a biased thinking that clouds our faith.
Do you imagine that Jonah (the rebel) believed he was being delivered when he found himself inside that big fish? Did Zacchaeus (the spectator) really think Jesus would find him up in that tree and they would actually sit down to dinner? What about that woman (the outsider) who went to draw her water at the well and had a conversation with a stranger who challenged all of her assumptions about life?
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine…” – Isaiah 55:8
- I thought all the big plans for the future were null and void and then, over time, began to just want today.
- I thought I was in exile, but then came to see that I was kept safely away from the devastating storm.
- I thought I was all alone but then one day awakened to the realization that I had been in conversation with someone deep in my heart every single moment.
While I’m not a Christian fatalist, I don’t believe everything happens for a reason…Nor am I one who holds God responsible for all that occurs in this world. I’ve made too many messes to ever think I could get away with blaming Him. I do think God loves me. I know that he will guide my steps. I believe that he will take care of me – keep me from drowning, even when I’m too afraid to walk on the water.
My experiences here in this world can never become absolute reality. This mirror is too dim. I make so many mistakes. But I really can take hold of the promises that God has made and then make it day by day. In so doing (it’s a practice) this will transform the way I think about myself, my circumstances, and all the people I meet along the way.
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. – I Peter 1:4-5
What kind of response does God deserve today?
The Invisible Man 