In the Desert:: Anger that Exposes Grief

If I were to tell you that it will start raining lemonade tomorrow, most (all?) of you wouldn't start setting out pitchers to collect all the coming lemonade. 

This doesn't have much to do with your perception of my trustworthiness or your general amount of faith. It's more basic than that. Our brains are wired to notice patterns in the world around us. If you bang your head on the top of your car when you get out of it, you'll start adjusting the way you get out of that car. We notice patterns because they keep us safe and avoid unnecessary pain. We expect things to happen much the way that they have happened in the past. 

This is good and healthy behavior for all people. If you saw someone try and jump through the windshield of their car to get inside, you wouldn't say, "Wow! Look at the faith on them!"

While this logical way of engaging the physical world around us, sometimes it can really hold us back. 

Here's what I mean. What if you're asked to try something that you've never tried before? What if you're given a new task or role in your home, work or school? The pattern recognition system in your brain will come back empty. You're likely to resist or avoid it unless there is a significant benefit you can identify for trying this new task. 

This can mean that we see ourselves today and into the future in the same way we saw ourselves yesterday.

This week we're going to be looking at Moses bring water out of a rock in Numbers. It makes me wonder what unexpected things are ready to be set free in you, regardless if you or others have ever seen in the past.