You'd think I would have learned by now that the ole' close the eyes, open the Bible and drop the finger thing... has never really worked and ain't gonna start to work. I don't know why I try it from time to time when things start to get scary or change is a brewin', but I still do. It's weird, I don't revert into other habits pertaining to other matters. It would be like being short on cash for rent, so the next time I go to the Dentist to have a crown inserted, I save the tooth shavings then put them under my pillow and hope to find a cashier's check from the tooth fairy underneath my pillow in the morning for the amount of my rent. Hey sometimes you might get lucky in the blind-finger-drop-bible-thingy, and honestly God can do anything if he wants, but man is it scary when you open the Good Book, drop your finger and the verse you land on and read is "Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons will fall by the sword." AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! "Okay, Okay God, that was funny, now seriously, I am trying to get some answers here. Can't you see I am doing the fail-safe drop-the-finger-speak-to-me-thingy here. Can you get serious??? Now lets try again." Eyes closed, Bible open, finger drops, you read with great anticipation...."I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and birds of the air." - "OKAY, OKAY, FINE, FINE! Have it your way. Now where is that verse about working for the Good, oh yeah, Romans." Engage brain.
All I have to say is that I am glad that little trick isn't the way God wants us to make decisions of believe in His providence. Otherwise I am going to meet an unpleasant and dreadful end and my wife, well, I won't repeat that part.
9 comments:
The Bible isn't a fortune cookie. I believe that God can speak through anything, however His desire for us to search our heart, and meditate in the Word defies the logic of the "finger-drop-read" method, although I've done it a million times I think, and each time, with few acceptions, have landed slap bang in the middle of a plague.
I have come to the point in my life where I no longer ask God for specific "items;" i.e. "I need a car" or "Could you please let my numbers roll up in the lottery?"
Instead, I've begun asking God for wisdom. Period. God's wisdom is the true and only key to success in every aspect of life.
For those who have young children or who plan to become parents, the best thing you can do is to pray for wisdom for your children. I started praying for my kids while they were in the womb, and although things are not always perfect, I am already seeing the fruits of this simple prayer.
Remember Solomon. He could have asked God for ANYTHING. Money, power, women, a yacht on the Carribean. But he just wanted wisdom. After all, what good are any of life's treasures if we don't know what to do with them?
Wisdom is a good thing. But really, cash is much, much better.
BTW maybe one or two of your kids have too much wisdom. I mean, one was able to frame a dog for peeing on the floor by the age of 3 or 4, AND she was able sustain the conspiracy for a good 3 weeks until caught herself in the action.
I don't think I've done the finger-drop in quite a while.
I guess I've done it occasionally for light Bible reading when I have a few minutes. But now that you mention it, maybe it is sort of silly to think that just because the entire thing is God's Word, that any randomly selected passage is likely to be relevant or applicable to my current life or situation in some way.
"What are you saying, Lord? Do you mean that you want me to slay the Philistines personally? And where do I find the Philistines now, Lord? And how will I explain this mission to my wife?"
Yeah, most people don't actually do the finger drop thing when they get older, however they do usually do the flip the bible open randomly, drop the eyes and hope if get something good, or some missing answer to their dilema.
That is usually where I find myself. It is sort of the sneaky way of doing the finger drop trick. It is more of the flip-open-and-drop-the-eyes thing.
The point is, I guess, is that the bible is not a big fortune cookie. Somehow when we open those fortune cookies and think "hey, this really pertains to me!!" we forget about all the other times where the fortune cookie just said stuff like "you will be the best" What does that mean????
I certainly think He speaks through the bible, and we can definitely find direction in reading and studying it, but I known too many GROWN MEN and teenage boys (my students) who have HUGE crushes on girls and are looking for the "go ahead" in the word. Like "hey Seth, you know ----, I think God wants me to go for her" Why is that Johnny? "well I was praying about it and I opened up the bible and it said 'I am my beloved and my beloved is mine' I think it's a sign." Then I say, "Well Johnny, don't you think you should introduce yourself first..."
But then again we wise teachers and adults do the same kind of things later. We just needed the right moment of weakness. "Should I move to Nashville?" " Well lets see if I can just open to the right story to help me out." Well, I think the bible gets a little dangerous when you start thinking about it like it is some crystal ball. I don't usually do these things. It is just when I get in a tight spot or feel extremely anxious about a certain decision that I revert to this kind of reasoning. Kind of like a bible lotto. "Man this could be it... big money big money, no whammy... AWWWWEEEEE" It is usually in a desperate situation. Like I said, God has done stranger things and SOMETIMES it just might work, but I tend to think that when we do open the Bible to find direction, and if God decides to speak in that way, that one particular time, then it is usually not the direction or message we were hoping for. Like I might be looking for where to move and hope to stumble on some story of Moses with some secret commission and I might find where Jesus says "Seek first the Kingdom of God" The answer was I need to draw closer to him and He'll take care of the rest. Not the answer I was looking for, but the right one nonetheless. It is just too bad that if that happens we tend to find something else to do.
i do that all the time. it has gotten me into trouble more than once. sometimes waiting on God is hard and we want immediate answers.
I tried to repeat your experiment. Admittedly, I was sure that I was going to get a verse that said something along the lines of riches and power so that I could laugh at you... but instead I got "Even though they mount up high as the heavens, and their head reaches to the clouds, they will perish forever like their own dung;"
Damn.
Seth - I understand what you're saying. I think over time, I've gotten to point with this stuff where I feel like Lexie does, meaning not asking for specific answers as much, but instead trying to draw close to the Lord and trust that He will give me wisdom and direct my paths.
I notice that a common phrase in the Bible is "it seemed good", and if you read the passages where that is used (e.g. Acts 15) you'll see that when His followers are seeking the Lord's will for their lives, and they are prayerfully and seriously desiring to do His will, then whatever "seems good" to you is likely to be within God's plans.
I know that opens up a lot of variables, like "what if I want this for selfish reasons?", and "what if this isn't what God wants -- will I mess up my walk with Him by doing the wrong thing?". And to me, this is where real faith comes in.
Think about it another way. When you wake up in the morning, do you ask God whether you should wear the red shirt or the blue shirt? Whether you should wear the brown shoes or the black shoes? Whether you should brush your teeth before or after combing your hair? I know those sound like silly examples, but really in the big scheme of things, those little decisions may not be much more or less important than "Should I live in Nashville or Cincinnati?", because in the end, you trust that wherever you end up, the Lord knows what's going on, cares about every hair on your head, and is going to lead you into what He wants for you. (A quick side note here -- there are people with strong and distinct callings from the Lord who know what they should do and where they should be, and that's not what I'm talking about here).
If you start to step in the wrong direction for the wrong reasons, you may find that all the doors slam shut in your face unexpectedly. And that experience might really suck at the time, but you have to trust that God knows what He's doing. (Worse yet, you may find that the doors don't slam shut, and then you have to take the scenic route to get where the Lord wants you to be).
I don't like the "God has a wonderful plan for your life" message that I hear a lot in churches. It bugs me. It's true that on the ultimate spiritual level, He does have a wonderful plan, because He sent His Son to die for us, so that we can be reconciled to Him. But it's usually spoken in the context of "and once you're a Christian, your life will be swell, and you'll live happily ever after", which is a lie. That's not what Jesus said, and that's not promised to any of us.
Over time, we move, we buy, we sell, we change, we get new friends, we all experience joy and sadness, success and failure -- but the Lord's promise is that He will never leave us nor forsake us, no matter what we go through. So if you're not hearing answers to your questions, it could be as simple as seeking the Lord by focusing on Him and not on your circumstances, and then doing what seems good when faced with choices.
Great thoughts C-hammer. Couldn't have expressed it better.
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