Ideas (2)
2021-02-25Proverbs 20:5 NLT
Not all good ideas are immediately apparent, especially when we’re working with God. Often, because we’re lacking God’s perspective, the ideas that He gives to us can seem impossible or simply strange. Albert Einstein is believed to have said: ‘If at first the idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it.’
It can sometimes feel a little like that when we’re following the mysterious plans of the Holy Spirit. Some of the most important events in the Bible could only happen because people were willing to work with seemingly absurd ideas from God – Noah built an enormous boat and filled it with animals. That ended up being the key to repopulating the planet after a global flood (see Genesis 5-9). Moses used a staff to give an entire nation an escape route through the sea. That ensured the freedom of Israel (see Exodus 14). Mary, a virgin, listened and believed when God said that she was pregnant, and carried the baby through the stigma of being unmarried when people didn’t understand. That gave us Jesus, who saved the entire world (see Luke 1).
The lesson for us is that it’s worth chasing God’s voice and trusting Him when we hear it. Of course, we should still exercise common sense, matching up what we think God is saying with what we know of Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 talks about messages from God, and tells us to ‘test everything; hold fast what is good’. It takes practice and patience to learn to hear ideas from God, but once we step into it, we can find ourselves in places we never expected.