There aren’t many people today who don’t know the name Albert Einstein. Well it was today in 1905 that he revealed his theory of relativity which earned him a place in our history books. However, I have always been more fascinated with the things he said than his theory — probably because of my simple mind! They seem to make so much sense that I wonder why the thoughts and concepts are not on everyone’s minds. They are so fundamentally sound that I marvel that the rest of the world has not adopted some of the concepts as part of everyday life. For example, who can argue with the truth of this? “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” That is one of my very favorites. However, as a creature of habit I find myself forgetting this concept and slipping into Paul’s Roman’s 7 dissertations, knowing better. The one that penetrates my heart deepest and hits me right between the eyes is: “I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.”
When I think about knowing God’s thoughts, I think of 1 Corinthians 2:16 where it says: “‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” As believers you have the capacity to think God’s thoughts, which is something the unbeliever does not possess (1 Corinthians 2:14). However, you will not always use God’s mind to help you make your decisions or direct your path. There is a reason why you won’t. You will revert to Einstein’s first quote and try to solve the problem your way — and in the process pay the price of a repeated mistake. When the pain gets severe enough you will either rid yourself of the repetitive error or make a mental decision that the pain provides you with some payoff that it is worth the price you are paying.
Many times when you think God’s thoughts you may not see an immediate payoff because you are not thinking from an eternal paradigm — and there’s a reason. Though I cannot imagine Christ considering a short term payoff when asked by Caiaphas if He was the Messiah, knowing that once He said yes, it guaranteed the certainty of an excruciating pain, humiliation, and certain death, I can imagine being personally suckered by my own rationalizations. We have our answer if we consider our humanity and that Romans 7 dissertation I referred to earlier (especially verses 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, and 25.) There you see the Greek noun for sin (harmartia) used repeatedly. Though the word is translated as “missing the mark” remember this is a NOUN, and the concept being communicated (Vine’s Expository Dictionary) is that of a governing power or entity impacting you, not just your bad decision. You were pulled or pushed in a direction by a spiritual force you could not see. Though I am not trying to provide you with excuses, I do want you to understand the reality of the battle and the depth of grace.
Even though it would be nice to approach problems from a different paradigm and solve them properly after one mistake, that will not always be realistic. You have someone, a real life entity, working against you — as do your friends and acquaintances. In order to outwit that person you must rely on God’s mind. Oftentimes that will mean doing the exact opposite of what you think is “common sense.”
Love,
Dad