God doesn't work that way

So Moses thought, "This is strange!" he said to himself. "I'll go over and see
why the bush isn't burning up." Exodus 3:3

Have you ever heard someone say, "God doesn't work that way? He would never do that." Well, there are times when God chooses to confound the foolish in order to change our paradigm of experience. Moses had never seen a bush that burned but did not burn up. It got his attention and it drew him to God. A paradigm is a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that
constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them. With us, it is easy to see

God only working the way we have seen him work before based on our set of values we have learned growing up. We feel comfortable being able to explain God’s actions in our lives, until we see a shift in the way we see things and/or understand our perception of God.

When Jesus appeared on the water in the middle of the night during a storm, the disciples exclaimed, "It's a ghost!" They had never seen a man walk on water. This led to a great miracle--Peter walked on the water, too. When Jesus asked Peter to catch a fish and get the coin from its mouth to pay their taxes, you can imagine what Peter must have thought about those instructions. When Moses got to the Red Sea, he ran out of options. God had an unexpected solution to the Israelites' problem--He parted the Red Sea to demonstrate His power and allow the people of Israel to cross over to flee the Egyptian army.

Each of these new paradigms was a stepping-stone of an encounter with God so that the individual would experience God in a new way. God used these times to enforce the principle that His ways are not our ways. Whenever we try to predict that God will act in a certain way, He changes the paradigm to keep us from becoming our own little gods. This may cause us to become frustrated, angry, confused or a myriad other emotions we can experience. He uses these stepping stones to teach us obedience.

Have you ever been guilty of judging someone for an experience they've had that you've never had? Did you dismiss it as extreme or something not of God? Shame on you! God is in the business of changing our paradigm from no personal experiences to God experiences. They can happen while reading Scripture, listening to a song, watching a child pray, having a near death experience, or any of hundreds of other possible God encounters. However, if you operate on a level of rigid logic, you may never have the privilege of having the God-experiences. Keep your heart free to experience new paradigms with God today.

Ray Hartman
Cornersville, TN

Prayer- Lord, as we come to you today...and every day...that you will refresh our spirit, enlighten our mind, and strengthen our body. I pray that you will grant us wisdom, anointing, and openness to receive the message you want to deliver through your Spirit today. Amen

Prayer Tip- Don’t anticipate how God is going to answer your prayers. Let God teach you how to see him work in your life

10-08-07