Trying to understand

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given yesterday

Heard a story about people being required to listen to a message about the health dangers of smoking. The message had a static noise in the background, and to hear the message clearly these people could press/hold a button and the static would disappear. The room was filled with smokers and non-smokers, and after the message was presented it was found that not one smoker opted to press the button to remove the static noise. They were not interested in hearing it.

Speaking the truth in love – what does it mean?

Bumping up against each other – can it help us become more mature?

Jesus is the ultimate person to identify with.

In Ephesians it talks about speaking the truth in love… this is how you become mature… when Jesus becomes our focus…

Paul continues… so I tell you this… no longer live as the Gentiles do… the futility of their thinking…

Teaching Ecclesiastes for Cert IV, Solomon was known for his wisdom… though he describes futility of his thinking… everything is meaningless… says “what a heavy burden God has laid on mankind… the more I try to work it out the more it becomes a heavy burden…”

Psalmist describes it as “rich people get everything they want… surely in vain I’ve kept my heart pure… every morning brings new punishments… when I try to understand this it is oppressive to me…”

The Gentiles elevated their minds – trusted their intellect… tried to work it out themselves.

What’s it like when you feel the world is “stupid”… doesn’t make sense?

What happens for you when you’re trying to work it all out?
- become overwhelmed
- feel like I’m hitting a brick wall
- my mind turns off
- when my emotions are overcome by disasters, ie earthquakes, tsunamis, then emotional world shuts off and I will think about self-indulgent stuff like what shoes to wear
- want to run away, hoping that by runny away it will solve itself.

Hebrews 12 talks about word of God being able to divide between the mess and the chaos, truth and spirit, I don’t get there by working it out.

Words can be confronting.

In Ephesians, Paul describes those Gentiles as being “dark in their understanding… elevating their minds… hardening their hearts…”
Alienation been described as – when head and heart get more and more separated… then we look for anaesthetics. Paul described it as people turning to sensuality, impurity, greed. Looking to the external world to make selves feel better.

When there is a mess… want to fix it, but for me it’s a spiritual battle.
On one hand I like to trust myself – follow line that safe, predictable, what I know or can figure out.

Other hand asks “do I trust Jesus?”

In this space I have to listen to things I don’t necessarily want to hear… be in a place to face the crap.

Find myself escaping to my head to try and work it out, trying to understand…

Find its only when I enter the sanctuary of God that I find rest and peace.

What I love about Poatina is there are a bunch of people who love God and want to do their best to speak the truth in love.