Category Archives: Hearing from God

Spiders on the Web

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Every generation considers itself sharper than the one before. Since I see 3 generations coming behind me, I assume I’m “getting it” less and less. There’s one area where that’s indisputably true: the World Wide Web.

Recently three of my boys tried to explain to Mary and me what happens when someone researches a topic through Google. The two of us had initiated the discussion with questions about how the impossible occurs each time we Google anything. Literally millions of sites jump to the screen in seconds, and we wanted to know how.

The boys began describing the technical reasons behind this phenomenon, explaining why it wasn’t “the impossible” but was quite understandable. We asked question after question, but their answers were beyond our grasp. No matter how they tried to simplify it, we still couldn’t get it.

Mary said, “But who typed in all that information? Somewhere, at some time, someone had to put all those facts on the web.” The boys threw back their heads and laughed with gusto while Mary and I looked at each other’s blank faces and thought, “What’s funny about that?”

It was as if our two groups were talking different topics. Maybe we were. Adam patiently described the spiders that crawl around the web collecting data in a category requested through Google, completing their task in milliseconds, another nonsensical concept.

“Spiders?” we said. Mary and I are fully acquainted with real spiders in the real world, but these imaginary ones didn’t compute. But then, because the information they collect is real, they must somehow be real, too. It was mindboggling, and I’m fairly sure smoke began seeping from our ears at that point.

The root problem is that Mary and I think differently than the generation beneath us. It’s like pointing to a tree and asking what kind it is. One group might say, “A tree with red leaves,” the other, “Deciduous.”

I thought of the parallel between generational confusion and the confusion we sometimes feel in trying to understand God. In our bewilderment we ask him questions and he uses his Word to answer, but more often than not, we still don’t get it.

Sometimes we’re incapable of figuring it out, sometimes just off topic. We might be asking, “Lord, which retirement center should I choose?” while he’s answering, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Much like Mary and me peppering the boys with sidebar questions, all of us are guilty of asking God the wrong questions, too, focusing on our expected answers rather than trying to understand his new ones. When God says something that seems off topic to us, we just repeat our question.

God does offer one answer, though, that answers every question, in every situation, both those we understand and those that confuse us:

“Just trust me.”

And because he’s God, we get that, no matter what generation we’re from.

“What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider’s web.” (Job 8:14)

Dream a Little Dream

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I’ve always loved listening to the convoluted accounts of people’s dreams. Most don’t make any sense, a sound-asleep brain making mishmash of daytime details, but it’s fun to pluck out bits of authenticity.

A crystal clear dream I had last night has dominated my thoughts all day. I was crossing the Atlantic on a big jet headed for Chicago. Midway across (i.e. 2000 miles from land) the plane poofed into oblivion. There was no violent explosion, just a disappearance.

Other passengers vanished, too, and I was left flying along in a summer sundress, high in the sky. Looking down at the ocean, I knew I was going to end up there eventually and wondered if the water was cold. But flying was glorious, generating a thrill similar to parachuting for the first time. I spread-eagled my arms, closed my eyes and hoped to stay airborne for many miles.

Every so often I looked down, but the water was still far away, and I told myself, “This experience is the highlight of my life!”

Gradually the ocean loomed larger, but I had no fear. Waves were small, almost non-existent, reminding me of the Titanic movie and a quote from the crow’s nest that night: “It’s a veritable pond!”

Finally I landed in the water, which was bright blue and delightfully warm. It felt good, and after surfacing, I rolled on my back in a floating position. Looking at the high clouds, I wondered which way to Chicago. Without the sun it was hard to tell. But I’ve always loved to swim and turned over to begin a gentle crawl stroke. It occurred to me 2000 miles was farther than I’d swum before, actually farther than anyone had. So I went back to floating.

A plane flew overhead, miles above, but I knew I was just a speck from that height and didn’t even wave. I began wondering what would happen to me. I knew sharks loved warm water and thought I might be gobbled up, but that didn’t seem worrisome.

Looking at the sky, I was thankful for the clouds, a protection from sunburn. But one concern, though not a big one, was my lack of drinking water. Could I make it to the US without getting thirsty? Deciding to hurry, I resumed my crawl stroke in earnest, but this time my head seemed too heavy to lift out of the water. I abruptly woke up, my head in the air.

Bothered by the dream all day, I asked God what, if anything, he wanted me to learn. To be cautious about risk-taking? To plan ahead better? To pay attention to danger signals? To seek his help before trying to go it alone?

In the end I decided his only message was, “Don’t eat a big dinner after midnight.”

“The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

Keeping Secrets

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A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about a wedding gift I’d lost track of before attending the wedding. (July 19, “Keeping Track”) The day before the event, I was sure God would let me bump into it, because he’s famous for his 11th hour rescues. But I went to the wedding with a check instead of the vase I’d chosen from the bride and groom’s registry, disappointed in myself and in God.

It’s been several weeks since that happy occasion, but I’ve continued to hunt for the gift, hating the fact that my brain wasn’t sharp enough to remember where I’d put it. God knew where it was, since there’s no secret he doesn’t know, but he wouldn’t tell me. And why was I surprised? He’s all about secrets.

Most of the “why’s” behind life’s unanswered questions are secrets known only to him. Of course he’s God Almighty and doesn’t have to answer to anyone, but there’s another reason behind his secret-keeping.

He’s trying to set an example for the rest of us.

Jesus gives three illustrations of when secrecy should trump openness. The first is our gift-giving. God’s recommendation is that we keep it under wraps. To make his point, he tells us we shouldn’t even let our left hand know what our right is doing. In other words, we should make a big effort to give gifts in secret with no one’s knowledge but God’s. He keeps the books and won’t miss seeing what we do.

Jesus’ second teaching on keeping secrets applies to fasting. Although biblical fasting remains mysterious in terms of how God applies it to our lives, he clearly states we’re to look and act nourished while depriving ourselves of food, keeping it a secret whenever possible. God sees, and that should be enough. After all, he’s the one who will respond to it.

The third secrecy-subject is prayer. Although praying out loud in groups is appropriate, the majority of our prayer ought to be done in secret, one-on-one with God. His instructions are, “Get alone. Shut the door. Pray in private.” He’ll hear us perfectly, and we’ll hear him better then, too.

Giving, praying or fasting with the hope of being noticed negates God’s plans for us. He wants to shower us with goodies he calls “rewards”, but he says he’ll hold those back, if our motives aren’t pure.

And he makes no secret of that.

As for the lost wedding gift, I finally gave up searching, and immediately after that, I found it, nestled in the corner of a 2’ x 3’ box I was about to pitch. God waited until I quit making demands of him, and then he showed me.

We’re not privy to most of his secrets, but once in a while he does let us in on one. Woo hoo!

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us.” (Deuteronomy 29:29)