FIGURING IT OUT

Being a studious thinker, I once thought I could figure things out on my own. Only after my first marriage crashed and burned, and I became a Christian, did I realize that “leaning on my own understanding” was a deeply flawed approach to life. In fact, the desire to acquire the knowledge of good and evil was at the heart of original sin!

I didn’t need to figure it out, I needed the wisdom of God, so through much Bible study, I filled my mind with truth and information. Unfortunately, it didn’t set me free. My mind knew the right answers, but my heart was bound up. I thought I needed knowledge powerful enough to change my deeply embedded emotions, but what I needed was a relationship.

REVELATION

Fortunately, my church taught us about the difference between knowledge and revelation, and between surface change and transformation. I completely believe God wants us to understand, but He wants that understanding to lead us to know Him, not just solve our problems. Which brings me to the heart of this post.

Thanks to my neighbor, Martha, I’ve been introduced to the writing of Blake Healy, the author of three amazing books God is using to change me through my perception of His love. In his simple, down-to-earth style, here is an excerpt from Blake’s second book, Profound Good – See God Through the Lens of His Love.

THE POWER OF DISCOVERY

“Revelation is God revealing to us how He relates to us. It is God showing us how He works, how the world works, and where He placed us in relation to both. This information is often secret – not because He wishes to hide but because He understands the power of discovery.”

“I like to compare the process of revelation to an Easter egg hunt. If the goal of an Easter egg hunt is to hide eggs from my children, then I can succeed in that goal every time. Why? Because I will get a shovel and bury some ten feet under the ground, I will get a ladder and and hide some on the top of my roof, and I will get a box and mail the rest to Mongolia. Thankfully for my children’s sake, the point of an Easter egg hunt is not that the eggs are hidden but that they are found.

“However, being a father who likes to bring joy to his children, I do not just pile the eggs in the middle of the lawn and call it a day. I place the eggs where it is within their ability to find them them but also where they will have to use the full capacity of the their developing minds to discover them.“

“Where I hide the Easter eggs has changed as my children have grown. Most of them used to be spread across the lawn, with a few hidden partway under rocks or in bushes. Later I started hiding them in the low branches of trees, under inconspicuous toys, and beneath resting grandparents. I might hide eggs in places that are easy to see but challenging to get to. I might hide eggs in places that are the opposite of where they would expect to find them. I might lay a series of easy-to-find eggs that lead toward one that is very difficult to find.”

“Whatever I do, I hide the eggs so my children will feel smart and capable when they find them.“

GOD’S NATURE

“God is inviting us into the revelation of His nature….If we believe He is hiding from us, then the process feels like a wild-goose chase. If we believe He is hiding for us, then it is a journey of adventure, discovery and deepest intimacy.

“The revelations we receive…are intended to familiarize our hearts and minds with the nature of God. If we do not let the revelations we receive transform our hearts and minds, then there is no reason for God to give us further revelation – not because he is petulant or stingy but because we would almost certainly be unable to receive that revelation, even if it was right in front of us….If we miss a piece of who He is, we are ill-equipped to receive more of who He is.”

GOD IS MY FATHER!

Lately, God has been coming at me from all sides with the idea that He longs for more intimacy with me – with each of us. I follow many leaders who say we are heading into revival. That all this shaking is bringing us to see that our only help is from God. He wants us to want Him, to cling to Him, and to obey Him – so we can see the salvation of our Country. I believe this.

But not until I read story after story, and illustration after illustration in Blake’s books I did suddenly KNOW and receive God as my beautiful and perfect Father. I abandoned my belief in performance and my heart opened. It just clicked.

Blake is the Director of the Bethel Atlanta School of Supernatural Ministry. Raised a missionary kid he now travels all over the world teaching prophetic ministry and seeing in the Spirit. The link above will take you to Christianbooks.com, but you can also find them on Amazon.