In recent years, I have tried to live my life with this in mind:
Don’t put a period where God has put a comma.
I have a confession to make. I like order, but I think I like spontaneity more.
I like to come home to a house that looks like I am together. But I like being available to others more.
I like coming home to a crockpot filled with a delicious meal that makes the house smell as though I sweated all day over the stove, but I prefer to pick up dinner if I sense the Lord pulling on my heart to do something unexpected that day.
So the quote above really suits me. I simply do not like periods. I like to live in the commas, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead me and adjust my days.
My husband, on the other hand, likes order too. He will prioritize order and then make room for what is next. I guess that is a good thing for him as a doctor, as he probably saves more lives that way. But clearly there is room for both. There are times when the Lord says stop; stay where you are, place a period. There are other times the Lord tells us to be flexible, lay down our own plans and move in another God-directed way.
Certainly, our temperaments somewhat determine if we live in the commas or periods of life, but we need to live in both. And in a way that is what Jesus told Nicodemus. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was trying to figure out Jesus. Was He truly the Son of God or just a great Rabbi/teacher? Jesus gave Him a very strange answer, describing to Nicodemus the way to change his need-for-brain closure to be open to a spiritual answer that allowed the Holy Spirit to move in his life.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus’ answer seems like a bait and switch, but actually Jesus was leading him out of his box, challenging his thinking into a spiritual thought process.
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s room and be born.”
Nicodemus was going to figure this out. He needed an answer that put a period to his question and put his mind to rest. But Jesus answered his question with a comma.
Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom.
Jesus was saying that on earth we are birthed in our mother’s womb; however, there is a spiritual birth when we are birthed in Christ. Nicodemus left confused. Nicodemus wanted to make sense of all of this, but his earth-bound mind could not grab hold of Jesus’s kingdom answer.
To summarize all of this, our temporal earth-bound minds tend to put a period at the end of questions that are deeper, broader and less understandable. But as Christians, led by the Spirit of the Living God, we need to learn to put commas when Jesus is speaking to our hearts. We need to learn to live with the tension between our earth-bound brains and seek things from above. As we walk by the Spirit and hear His voice, we simply need to be aware of not putting a period when we need a comma.
The sheep follow Him and they know His voice. (John 10:4)
Joanne
Friends, join us beginning April 3rd as we take a slower pace with our spring book club as we read “Sitting at His Feet.” Click the link for more details, learn more.
