As we begin to focus upon God, the things of the Spirit will take shape before our inner eyes.
~A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
~A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
~ 1 Corinthians 2:9b-14
The western Christian world was handed a two-edged sword at the end of the 17th Century. A movement of minds convinced itself that reason, and the mind were able to discern, define and defuse the problems of the world.
Surely, the growing freedom of ideas during the Enlightenment affects us even today. And some of the effects are undeniably good. Free governments of the world owe much of their structure to the thinking of those who birthed the movements of free thought in a world that had violently stifled such activities for centuries.
However, the other edge of this sword has served to decimate the connection we have to the Source of actual knowledge and wisdom in our world. By elevating intellect and reason to such lofty heights, we (in effect) inverted the funnel that allows truth to flow into our beings. We placed reason above discernment. We said that data was more important than faith in making decisions. And this change was so pervasive that we almost think people are a little weird when they call themselves “spiritual” or “mystical.”
Wonderful it was that we strove to eliminate decisions based on brutish and fleshly impulse or superstition. So, in this sense, there was progress. But again, we went too far by elevating science and thought over wisdom and faith.
The main issue, for believers, is that trying to comprehend the truths of Scripture merely by means of academic and scientific method brings any of these efforts to catastrophic failure. And even while Theology is known as the “Queen of the Sciences,” the underlying assumption of theology is that one is studying the Unknowable, while still ever trying to know.
Scripture is clear that if we try to do any of the Christian life by some sort of method, rule, or mindset – that doing is NOT the Christian life. Instead, the Bible makes it even more clear that, in some significantly deeper way, that the Christian life is impossible in the realm of the flesh and the intellect. It is, in fact, Lived by Another, in us and through us by the His Holy Spirit.
As we yield to this truth in our lives, we begin by seeing that our flesh is desperately broken. And that the flesh is a terrible edifice through which to actually live life. It only lives for itself, and breeds a fetid death in and around us. The feelings it generates are hardly ever to be trusted. The impulses it sends to the brain often have to be totally attenuated, filtered, or entirely dismissed. This can be easily seen in the overt misbehavior of children.
Going further, though, we learn that our brain even is part of that package of flesh. As fearfully wonderful a creation it is, it is still fallen. It can be mis-programmed, damaged, and misused. Really, it is no better than a fabulously equipped data processor, systems control unit, and content management system.
And from the understanding that our brains are broken, we begin to see that even the intellect and reason and science they spawn are subject to great error. Even our whole “mind,” that part of us we call a soul, is too attached to the flesh to be trusted as a guide to real wisdom and truth.
And then one day He speaks to us through our spirit. We perceive through that inner man, that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. In faith, we begin to see that the proper opening of the funnel is very broad and can take in vast truth instantly.
It is not that we no longer use our brains, it is that the flesh and the brain itself are no longer counted on to be the source of the information used to make decisions. Instead the brain is used, by G_d, to translate spiritually perceived knowledge into intellectual, emotional, and physical right action for His purposes and glory.
When we live in this space, we begin to also see that we are not an end unto ourselves. We see, in fact, that life is really not about us. And at first, this is a little weird. But then we begin to relax and see that His way of living life is actually easy and that any burden to be carried is quite light.
As we move beyond the constraints of reason, we begin to see the universe as the One who informs our spirits sees it. We see that it is a place in Him, in which we live and move and have our being. We begin to see, that we absolutely do not see everything yet. That there is a great reality beyond what we can now perceive and that we are in a time of preparation for that coming moment.
And in the fullness of our transition to His way of perceiving things, we not only see that the universe is not about us, but that it is really truly ALL about Him. And while this epic Him gets all the glory, He has told us another amazing thing. He wants us to enjoy Him and the whole process with Him forever.
So, I guess I could live in my own head and try to discern how I might eke out some existence on this little planet before I die. Or, i could open myself to His real reality and see that there is an eternity of possibility waiting to be lived with, in, by, and through Him. Would that we might, by grace through faith, choose the latter here.
God gives the believer a new set of inner eyes to see what he could not see before, a new set of inner ears to hear what he could not hear before.
~John Powell
