ITS TIME TO STUMBLE
Stumbling, to trip or momentarily lose one’s balance; almost fall, to make a mistake or repeated or to encounter by chance. That moment when you want to make a good impression to the new admirer, the you look up to, the new boss and without warning your muscle memory is interrupted, in a place where the fear of being seen, or even judged by the stumble is a threat. Walking down the aisle at a wedding, tripping up to a lectern to address the signatories gathered. Your less than perfect self-identity comes apart then we regain our composure, try to compensate, cover up or laugh it off, hoping it does not floor us in the corridors of work or the street of life, so you ignore it and move on?
Yet if we are humble, we will settle that most of our advances and achievements are achieved as we STUMBLE into situations and events, it just happens, it came from nowhere. I know we like to think we produced it, we worked at it, we made it happen, but did we? This does not take away the hours, days, years of self-discipline we put in, the self-preparation that is necessary, yet the reality is we prepare ourselves physically, mentally in every way, stewarding our lives and all that is entrusted to us, our time, friendship, my physicality, possessions what ever they may be. Then we stumble into unique circumstances, relationships, situations that never will repeat again. the weather, the people at that very moment, the unique events around us. We align with people finding ourselves at start line with a group that is unique only to hear the gun go off, or we make an attempt and we stumble in to the moment, the innovation, the breakthrough.
I read once, “in the world of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind”. It is the inner life the physical life we prepare for the unknown that invades us we stumble upon.
Unexpected moments, one day a young widow walked in the fields looking for her next provision considering where she should be when “she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech”. Really does anything “happen”, her stumble put her in the right place, the correct moment.
In our modernist patterns of thinking what is defined, explained, is what we want, to know how it will work but we must hold on to the unprepared rhythm of the Holy Spirit. The breaking in of God, if we don’t, we will miss God in the moment, we will be those that join the masses that cannot see God, but you are designed to see God in all things.
Our modern technology worries me sometimes, not because the technology worries me, it does not I am a bit of a techno really, however the “filter Bubbles” that day by day we allow to rule our worlds, they dictate who we speak to, whom we see, who we connect with, they gather information on us to send you stuff on the basis of our ‘clicking habits’.
This world is being formed around us, it is a world in our image, yes you did hear me correct our image, but we belong to a world that is made in the image and likeness of the Divine, we are not meant to be in world in our image. We don’t want to have this fundamental truth taken from us. Where will we end up if we have a world made in our image in line with our clicking, likes, surfing and web activity, our purchases defining us.
This kind of life in our image will reduce our ability to live it to the full, it will reduce our preparedness for the unexpected, we will be governed and caught in information feed back producing a world that will be unnecessary to cultivate a prepared mind and heart.
This is certainly not a life led by the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:14 ‘For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. People cultivating a life that is ready to stumble, to take up the unforeseen and respond are the family we belong to.
You and I, who love the Christ are the Eden of God, the Garden of God, the temple, we are
to bring that Garden “..go forth and multiply…” humanity to all of creation, this is our call it’s not an escapism to another place but the union of the Divine with the Divinely created world “…two becoming one…” We are enticed by other gardens that surround us, the self-designed, the garden modelled on our wants and desires for pleasure. The garden of GAAF the garden made up from our techno world (Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook). You belong to the Garden of Eden and are to bring this garden to be the greater Garden City we find in Revelation 21, 22.
SO what should we do if we find ourselves caught in the GAAF garden
1 Learn to slow down and come out of the pace of the garden of GAAF to embrace the Garden of God the promised “enter into rest” The rest of Hebrews 4:1-3, the Sabbath rest points back to God’s original rest, and marks the ideal rest—the rest of perfect adjustment of all things to God. This falls in with the ground-thought of the Epistle, the restoration of all things to God’s archetype. The Sabbath-rest is the consummation of the new creation in Christ, through whose priestly mediation reconciliation with God will come to pass.
Now, he uses sabbatismos (σαββατισμος), the word used of the Sabbath rest.
The word points back to God’s original rest, and speaks of the ideal rest. Rest of the nature of God that was there in the first place, it’s still offering to us though Christ.
2 Try getting lost and not know where you are to learn again the big picture, the eternal will of the Father, to learn again to demand on the leading of the Holy Spirit. to be dependent on the inner life’s leading.
3 Experience the Divine, the life of the ancient living word found in the pages of the Bible, encounter with a person, the Christ might become the word that is living in us not words merely on the page that become our laws.
4 Tolerate vagueness, unknowing, uncertainty, put yourself in mode to learn, in discovery mode. Re capture what is hugely necessary the ’Mystery of the Gospel’.
As an aside note on this thought, there is a desperate need to recapture apostles today to be those that hold the church to account to be those that hold on the ‘mystery’ of God, it is so important and necessary. Paul said he was the steward of a ‘mystery’, it is an apostolic characteristic to be stewards of the mystery to God to mature people, grow them up in the mystery. We have seen the proliferation of apostles in last 40 years across the globe, frighteningly, with the proliferation has come title and positions BUT A LOSING AND DWINDLING OF MYSTERY? conclude your selves true apostleship? To bring about an apostolic people who bring the mystery of Christ to our worlds.
You cannot force God. You can not force the things you are desperate for, even if it is
above of God but you can provide the conditions, which is YOU and encourage a prepared mind and heart to welcome, get excited in the unknown
We are so spoiled for choice in every avenue today, in some nations whether it be in tastes, smells colours or clothes. While I make that statement I also realise some are excluded from the choices others have, on my travels I have observed that not every one has the opportunity to choose, however, if I find a TV anywhere the choice of channels is quite overwhelming.
God has done for us yet communicate the reaching including hand of God to bring peoples to an encounter of faith. The Charismatic Christian celebration lost the people of the program sadly and produced an uncomfortableness in them. This was not the conviction produced by the Holy Spirit but the non inclusion in taking people to God, in sharing the love of the Father. Projecting we are pure you are not, we have to keep ourselves pure and don’t include you.
These views, thoughts or beliefs are really there to help to make people who already belong feel good; that means the “outsider”, those who have not found their way to be part of the already feeling belonging group, these “outsiders” may feel the impact of both being accepted but let us be honest often rear do these ‘outsiders’ listen to them, the ‘in’. We are required to be so aware that such views, thoughts or beliefs only allow those who are “in” to treat others in such unacceptable non including ways. I must admit i have found the non inclusion was never really belief or theology but when it all boils down comes to a person or a groups insecurities or social defensiveness, inability to have piers, ofter cultivated form an orphan spirit (written about that in other blogs if interested), an orphan way is one of protections and provision. Enough getting side tracked now…
Who, What, Why questions that John the Baptist dealt with as we are introduced to him in the early chapters of the book of John (John 1:22-25). Who the question of identity, what, the question of purpose and self-knowing leading to why as John did his thing; actually it is when we are introduced to the Baptist term. Why are you doing what your doing? These questions somewhere are constantly being asked of us, probing, enquiring, they will also building and establishing you and I as we seek to answer them, as we seek to formulate the who, what and why.
What ever narrative you would hold when reading creations journey one element is true to all views, Adam (aw-dawm’) humanity, ‘Ish‘ and ‘ishshah (ish-shaw’)‘ – male and female stepped away form the divine design of a love relationship, a relationship that humanity was create from and for, began living, in order to express this relationship to God, each other and creation
exists in a relationship.
My longing is to find a people who would let go of business domination in the church environment, of the predator ways of humanity, of the hierarchy and come to the place of seeing God in community and the given-ness of God that we might display in our world the true image of God. A world, our communities and countries that each person would be empowered to ‘BE’ functioning not via title to get achieve authority from our position but making others greater.
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