- “Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist”
Cindy shared…
I wanted to read a little bit out of the book that I read the other week entitled, “In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day.” And it’s talking about you, the Church. Benaiah is the theme of this book. He was one of King David’s mighty men of valor who David trained up after his own heart. One of the things Benaiah did was he chased a lion on a snowy day. And it went into a pit, but it wasn’t just enough that that lion was trapped in the pit. He went down there into that pit with the lion and killed him. So we’re called to do some really brave courageous things, but we have God who is showing us every day the things that He has equipped us and appointed us to do. So we have great confidence. So it says…
Excerpt from “In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day”
I’m not sure what went through Benaiah’s mind right before chasing the lion, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was “call me crazy,” or “here goes nothing.” Is there anything more foolhardy than chasing a lion? But Benaiah knew this was his moment of truth. Chasing lions went against everything his mother had ever taught him. It is one of the most counterintuitive moves in all scripture. It certainly ranks as one of the craziest acts of courage, but maybe that is why God was able to turn this bodyguard into the commander in chief of Israel’s army. His craziness quotient was off the chart. The greatest breakthroughs, miracles, and turning points in scripture can be traced back to someone who was willing to look foolish. But 1st Corinthians 1:27 reveals God’s modus operandi. God deliberately chooses the things the world considers foolish in order to shame those things which are not wise. Nothing has changed.
Divergent Spirituality
I recently read a fascinating study on divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is intellectual originality. It is creativity and counter intuitive thought. It is thinking outside the box. The study found 98% of children between ages of three and five score in the genius category for divergent thinking. Between the age of eight and 10, the number drops to 32%. By the time kids become teenagers, it drops down to 10%, and only 2% of those over 25 score in the genius category for divergent thinking.
According to John Putzer (sp?) who cites the study in his book, “Get weird,” the solution to this intellectual conformity and creativity atrophy is tapping into your natural weirdness or originality. God has stamped you, and you’re all individual in your facets. It’s individual facets. And I think he’s onto something. Tapping into our natural weirdness isn’t just one key to divergent thinking. It’s one key to divergent spirituality. Have you ever read the Bible lately? Lots of wild and wacky stuff. At face value, God says and does a lot of things that seem awfully weird. He tells Ezekiel to cook his meals over dung for 390 days. What about that? God uses dumb donkeys to speak to Balaam. That’s different. But God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute. And what about speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost? That’s downright strange. I don’t know what they were thinking on that day. They thought they were drunk. But all those subplots reveal something important: God loves variety. He speaks and acts in different ways. Can I come right out and say it… normality is overrated.
It’s almost like an orchestra, if you see one person is up there and they’re leading everybody. And that one person knows everybody’s score. They’re making sure that that person stays on point. “Look at Me, don’t look around, look at Me.” And then what do you get from that? You get a beautiful symphony, a wonderful masterpiece. That’s what He calls us in Ephesians. He says, you are my masterpiece.
Think of it this way: We are all called to conform to Christ and Christ was a non-conformist. So conforming to Christ results in non-conformity. Too many people and too many churches look too much alike. If any place ought to celebrate diversity, it ought to be the Church. There never has been and never will be anyone like you. And that isn’t a testament of you. It’s a testament of God who created you. Diversity is a celebration of originality.
I like to pray this over everybody. I say, “God, I pray that they fall in love with themselves simply because they’re looking to you. And when they look to you, your original design is showing through and that is a masterpiece. Everything that comes out of their mouth and every thought that they’re intertwined in you is beautiful. They’re a gift that is being unwrapped.”
Cindy continued…
Thank you, Father.
I know this sounds silly, but I see a kind of like a disco ball. We’re all connected. But we’re all individual facets and reflecting what we see. I don’t see the same thing that the other person on the other side of the disco ball sees.
Prayed…
So I just thank you, Father, that we are all dancing to the drum beat that you’ve placed in our hearts.
I thank you, Father, today, for those that are in the body that are hurting, that have a bad report and are in pain and distress. We just send the supply that we have to them now. Lord comfort Your people.
