“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace….”
“For we walk by faith, not by sight….”
Sometimes you experience, hear about, or see things that don’t fit in your grasp of things. Consultants describe this as being outside the box or breaking through to a new paradigm. Most of us are very resistant to new things and will even explain such things so they fit into our current paradigm rather than accept them. This seems just as true with matters of faith.
So, for example, when a person who doesn’t believe that supernatural healings or tongues occur in believers today are confronted with such things they typically respond by saying that the supernatural occurence has been faked or they explain it naturally. When a person is healed people may explain the healing as coming from medical treatment being given or they may say that the person wasn’t really sick in the first place. When someone speaks in tongues they might say they are just speaking jibberish, or that it is of the devil, or that the speaker is fooling himself into believing the tongues are supernaturally from God.
I find it interesting that we are so quick to assume natural explanations or lies with regard to matters of faith. It is ironic. I mean, these are matters of FAITH. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” If such things were explicable by more than faith then they no longer are matters of faith.
Can people fake supernatural events? ABSOLUTELY.
Can people falsely believe that natural events are supernatural? ABSOLUTELY.
Can God cause supernatural things to occur? ABSOLUTELY.
Is God the same today as He has always been? ABSOLUTELY.
Is God infinitely internally consistent but also utterly unpredictable??? ABSOLUTELY.
I think of the disciples finding Jesus with the Samaritan woman. That was outside the cultural box.
I think of Peter, James and John on the mount of Transfiguration. What if they had said – man I must have had bad pizza today… or if they had said, this must just all be a dream? Do you think the other disciples immediately accepted what they reported? They probably thought Peter was just bragging again and laughed inside. They may have even accused them of lying.
Is it any different today? Do we hear about something we’ve never experienced or are uncertain of and immediately discount it as unbiblical or untrue?
“The eccentric thinkers are the ones that have been shaping our world ever since. One thing is certain, they always will”- Segun Adedokun