Strangeness of This Story

February 14, 2021

Growing up in the faith, I'm fairly familiar with scripture. I've heard the major stories, know the major characters, etc.

So much so, that it's easy to think what happens in the bible is normal.

But if you take a step back, have you ever noticed how strange some parts of the bible are?

  • God appears to Moses in a bush. (Exodus 3)
  • God commands Moses to put a bronze snake on top of a pole to save people from snake bites. (Numbers 21)
  • Singers & dancers lead the Israelite army into battle. (2 Chronicles 20)
  • A foreign woman (Ruth) is King David's great-grandmother, when the bible says Israelites shouldn't marry foreign women. (Ruth)
  • A whale swallows a Jonah to save him. (Jonah)
  • God commands a prophet cook food over burning feces. (Ezekiel 4)
  • God commands a prophet to marry a prostitute (Hosea)
  • Has a virgin woman give birth and raise the Living God. (Gospels)
  • Jesus tells people they need to eat him and drink him. (John 6)
  • And many more.

Strangeness doesn't mean bad, or wrong, but these things aren't normal.

What if I were asked to do these things?

The reason this matters, is I think we naturally gravitate towards things that make sense to us.

If I saw someone doing these things, I'd think they were crazy.

If we don't recognize this “strangeness” aspect to God working, are we going to miss what he's doing?

I think this mindset has help me back. My desire is to understand, but God doesn't call me to understanding, he calls me (and us) to obedience.

I think a lot of us filter everything by what makes sense. And we'd be limiting God by holding him to that standard.

God moving in Acts

When I read through Acts, I generally don't see planning or meetings driving what happens.

I see God directing, throwing people into sitautions they hadn't forseen or anticipated.

What was the outcome? Lives were radically changed and scores of people came to know Jesus!

God moving today???

Should that also be happening today? Should we recognize that God moves in strange ways, and lean into that?

Not strangeness for strangeness sake, but acknowledging that following God is a radically different lifestyle.

Are there other places where these kind of things are happening? Other ministries? Countries? Churches?

I think so.

We live in an age where so much is understood, but does our desire to understand limit how God moves?

It reminds me of Jesus in his hometown (Matthew 13). After preaching, healing, performing many miracles, he comes home and they can't believe this is the Jesus they grew up with.

And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. ~Matthew 13:58

Jesus was willing, but it seemed like the townspeople were not. Can we be the townspeople at times?

The Spirit

In my life, it's easy to live my life on autopilot. Then I encounter some situation where I don't know what to do, then I turn to prayer and scripture to help draw me closer to God.

What if these strange moments are really essential to truly understanding how to rely on God? To really trust his Spirit moving in our lives? To be someone who fulfills the great commission?

The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man. ~Dwight L. Moody

I pray I can be someone who follows God's lead, no matter how strange it may seem.