Post date: Jan 13, 2014 1:1:16 AM
Patterns make me nervous. They have a tendency to make you read too much into things. They can lead you down rabbit holes where you have no business being, all the while seeming like they are gifts from God.
Sometimes, though, patterns need to be paid attention to, much like the traffic signal changing as you approach. They can be there for your safety to keep you from doing yourself harm, or they can be signs that things can now begin to proceed.
Many have been the times when patterns have been perceived that either were not there, or were not what those perceiving thought them to be, and, acting erroneously, therefore, they proceeded to their own frustration, or even their own harm.
Take the ubiquitous signaled traffic intersection, for example. In order to move safely through it, you need to know what the signals are and what they mean. When you violate the intentions of the signals you take your life in your hands with no one to blame but yourself for whatever comes of what you do.
Signs can be warnings, but they can also be encouragements. When you’ve been waiting at a red light and it turns green, that means that the time has come to move on. If you don’t there will be consequences. They could be as simple as a traffic ticket, or as serious as a road-raged driver stuck behind you who loses control when you fail to move at the light’s command to do so.
Patterns are a serious matter, and that is why they make me nervous when I detect them in my life. Note, please, that I am no longer talking about traffic signals made by men, but about signs from God that might be intended to guide.
Allow me to give an example that I took as educational. Recently, I was preparing to take a shower and the water was coming out quite cold. As is my normal practice in such situations, I proceeded to let the water run until it warmed up to a comfortable level. The problem in this instance was that the water refused to warm up while I waited for it to do so.
Finally, the situation becoming obvious, I gritted my teeth and stepped into the cold stream. It was only after I had done so, accepting the situation to not be what I needed, that the water began to warm. Afterward it occurred to me, not only that God provides, but also how.
He will not be supplying you for what you want to do that He does not want you to do. He will not be supplying you for what you want to do when you want to do it. He might not even supply you in advance of what you are to do.
But He will provide.
He will provide what you need for what He wants you to do when He wants you to do it when you need it. It was after I acquiesced and stepped into the shower that the water began to warm, not before. You see, when you are not actually doing what He wants you to do you also do not need what it takes to do what He wants you to do. You don’t need it until you are doing it.
Patterns are everywhere in life. Sometimes they just happen and don’t really mean anything, such as an asterism in the night sky. “So what's that?” you ask. An asterism is a small set of stars in the night sky that appear to form some geometric object, such as a short line segment. There are many of these in the sky, and by far the majority of them mean absolutely nothing. When you consider it in three dimensions the stars probably aren’t even anywhere near each other but just look like they are when viewed in our sky.
I do not advocate considering patterns such as these.
There are, however, other patterns—patterns that completely escape you until they are brought to your attention; patterns that you had not even conceived of; patterns that pertain to matters of life; patterns that are meant to encourage; patterns that come in the spirit; patterns that are, in fact, from God.
They could be answers to long-forgotten prayer; perhaps an alert to things about to change in the struggles of your walk with Christ. They could be a reminder of things that you have already been shown. Perhaps they are a quiet confirmation from the God of your life that you are indeed His own, that He sees you, He sees your situation, and that He is well aware of what you are going through and is there for you, to uphold you through your trials.
When I was a small child I was forced to attend Roman Catholic services every morning because I was attending Catholic school. Part of that process was that at a very young age, I had to choose what is known as a confirmation name. The tradition was for boys to choose the name of one of the Apostles. I, however, chose the name of Jesus’ “daddy”, Joseph. I, of course, put daddy in quotes because Joseph was not really the father of Jesus.
The priests and nuns and teachers were aghast and fought long and hard trying to get me to change my mind. The more and the harder they fought the more stubborn and hard-nosed I became. I wanted Joseph and I was going to have it.
How does a preteen child manage to stand up against the onslaught of many determined and well-focused adults with hearts, minds, and souls set upon changing that small child’s mind? It would not be because of an admiration of my own dad. He was not yet a Christian, and did not deserve such devotion. It would not be simple steadfastness and determination, because this child was a child who had had steadfastness and determination beaten out of him by his own schoolmates, his own brother being among them.
No. This was a child of no remaining strength, and no affinity of heart, made to stand up against the traditions of men by a God who had a specific agenda to execute.
It would not be until many years later that I would come to know something of that agenda. It was not until my 40th year on this earth that I first came to know this God as He truly is.
A new generation—a new creation—of me was about to ensue.
This new generation’s sprouting forth and public declaration of itself to the world involved 14 months. I had already been taken from thoughts of suicide to thoughts of tenderness by the undeserved friendship of one whose name sounds like what could be translated from Greek as “You have found favor with God”. From the point of argument to affiliation to God spanned a period from 1997 into 1999.
From that point was to begin a long, long, long period of trial upon trial upon trial with very little interruption. From never getting raises at work to false accusations and vilifications and ridicules to slanderous rumor mongering supported and abetted by the elders of the denomination in which I attended, betrayals, false friends and believed lies, they were all there in fine abundance. Truly it felt as if I was being kept spiritually in slavery and prison combined.
This period was to last 14 years before I was delivered into homelessness, which, truly, has been my deliverance.
Very early on in my Christian walk I was granted a recurring vision; recurring in that it occurred at two different times in two different venues using two different imageries saying yet one thing to me: “If you will stay in prayer, humbled and on your knees before me, I will lift you up.” Let me describe one such occurrence to you.
It found me pondering in the staging area of the warehouse where I worked at the time. I was pondering the coming day and its necessary activities when I suddenly found myself in the spirit, kneeling where I was standing, according to the eyes of men, amidst the many auto parts to be stocked that day. It was as if I was watching myself. As I remained on my knees, praying humbly and desperately to my God, I saw myself gradually uplifting from the floor, still in the kneeling posture, until the vision ended with me kneeling among the rafters of the roof. The same happened later in connection with church.
Before entering the 2-year program where I now am, I had to choose to follow a believer or one who simply pretends at it. From the point of making the right choice, gradually, the uplifting process began, to include prophecies to me by a minister of the church to join the program, and to stick with it no matter what. It was as if it was not that minister talking, but God talking through him.
There are times when patterns are real and need to be paid attention to. There are times when, however subtly so, God speaks into your life and you need to be aware, paying attention to what is said so that you can learn what He is trying to teach you.
A few weeks ago, in prayer, He called me Joseph.
I wept.
The generation of my soul involved fourteen months; the prison-like trials, fourteen years. The months involved in this uplifting have been fourteen.