Yesterday the report was there were a couple of more observations from Einstein’s quotes from a few days back. But, if you read it you know that one of the observations emerged in the midst of that missive. So we are down to the last observation – well there will probably be one more that pulls all of it together – you may have figured out what that is already.
“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.”
This is profound. We tend to give up too early on things. Seth Godin, in his book, "The Dip,"
talks about this as well (I highly recommend this book). Where this impacts us as believers is when we come to portions of the scripture that we either do not understand or else seems to be saying things with which we do not agree. Our response to those passages, encounters, is determinative in our growth. We have a number of options when this happens. First, we can skim over the rough patch; after all there are more important things to do with the little discretionary time we have. Second, we can consult “experts” in the form of the notes in our study Bibles, commentaries, or a trusted pastor or teacher. Sometimes, we have to do that so we can find the thread we need to pull to unravel the issue. Third, we stop. We stay there and ask the Lord to guide us. We look hard at the passage and work through our response to it, and catalog what our preconceived ideas may be, giving those to the Lord and asking Him to reveal Himself to us.
At some point in the process all of those may be appropriate. Might I suggest that the reverse order is the way to proceed? Using the second and first sparingly. It is in the struggle, in staying with the problem longer, that the Holy Spirit can really engage with us.
This is profound. We tend to give up too early on things. Seth Godin, in his book, "The Dip,"
talks about this as well (I highly recommend this book). Where this impacts us as believers is when we come to portions of the scripture that we either do not understand or else seems to be saying things with which we do not agree. Our response to those passages, encounters, is determinative in our growth. We have a number of options when this happens. First, we can skim over the rough patch; after all there are more important things to do with the little discretionary time we have. Second, we can consult “experts” in the form of the notes in our study Bibles, commentaries, or a trusted pastor or teacher. Sometimes, we have to do that so we can find the thread we need to pull to unravel the issue. Third, we stop. We stay there and ask the Lord to guide us. We look hard at the passage and work through our response to it, and catalog what our preconceived ideas may be, giving those to the Lord and asking Him to reveal Himself to us. At some point in the process all of those may be appropriate. Might I suggest that the reverse order is the way to proceed? Using the second and first sparingly. It is in the struggle, in staying with the problem longer, that the Holy Spirit can really engage with us.
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