Nancy and I were driving recently and our GPS kept telling us to get off the highway. It was the wrong way to go, but as we passed every exit it told us to leave the road.
Missionaries run into this trouble all the time when they return to the U.S. Their cultural maps haven't been updated. Imagine how many roads have changed in your hometown in the past 20 or 30 years. Our culture has been no different. So as missionaries return they frequently make wrong turns as they try to navigate cultural cues.
The reality is, this can happen to anyone. We all know people who just can't seem to make good decisions. Even though they may know the right road, time and again they seem to make choices that are self destructive.
Sometimes I think we minimize the potential reasons for this. We can quickly dismiss people as "bad" or tell them if they prayed harder, REALLY listened to the Spirit and read their Bible more, then they wouldn't keep making mistakes.
It may sound like heresy, but sometimes that's not enough.
God did not create us in isolation. We have all been put here with unique gifts. And some people are really gifted at healing minds.
When we know the choices we should make and ignore them, there is probably a reason. It could be something hardwired from birth or that got rewired in our youth through experiences with family and friendships.
For some reason our GPS keeps telling us to pull off the road and its constant yammering is really difficult to ignore. So eventually, we give in, make choices we know will hurt us in the long run, for short-term reward, then hate ourselves for it later.
It doesn't have to be that way. If we're humble enough and brave enough to tell someone, there is healing. You aren't alone. Things can get better with God's help and the help of others who understand.
Missionaries run into this trouble all the time when they return to the U.S. Their cultural maps haven't been updated. Imagine how many roads have changed in your hometown in the past 20 or 30 years. Our culture has been no different. So as missionaries return they frequently make wrong turns as they try to navigate cultural cues.
The reality is, this can happen to anyone. We all know people who just can't seem to make good decisions. Even though they may know the right road, time and again they seem to make choices that are self destructive.
Sometimes I think we minimize the potential reasons for this. We can quickly dismiss people as "bad" or tell them if they prayed harder, REALLY listened to the Spirit and read their Bible more, then they wouldn't keep making mistakes.
It may sound like heresy, but sometimes that's not enough.
God did not create us in isolation. We have all been put here with unique gifts. And some people are really gifted at healing minds.
When we know the choices we should make and ignore them, there is probably a reason. It could be something hardwired from birth or that got rewired in our youth through experiences with family and friendships.
For some reason our GPS keeps telling us to pull off the road and its constant yammering is really difficult to ignore. So eventually, we give in, make choices we know will hurt us in the long run, for short-term reward, then hate ourselves for it later.
It doesn't have to be that way. If we're humble enough and brave enough to tell someone, there is healing. You aren't alone. Things can get better with God's help and the help of others who understand.
No comments:
Post a Comment