I was traveling from the Minneapolis Airport several weeks ago and noticed several security lines. The line closest to me was actually totally clear. Since this seemed almost magical I asked the TSA officer if this was a normal line and not a Pre-Check line. No, it was just a regular line; which was somewhat ironic considering the TSA Pre-Check line was quite long. I put my things on the carousel and went through the standard procedure without a soul in front of me. This situation – the exact opposite of what I have come to expect – felt so weird. I couldn’t shake a certain bafflement. As I exited the metal detector and collected my belongings I thought “surely this is a fake security line and the real one is up ahead and I’m going to be waiting in it for at least 30 minutes.”
Well there was no other security checkpoint.
There is a specific uncertainty that we all encounter when we go through a typical procedure and yet it is totally unlike our usual experience. Perhaps we feel security in predictability, habits, or the familiar. It’s similar to seeing a business associate running in their jogging gear. Was that really who I thought it was? There is a similarity and yet an unexpected change that brings uncertainty with it.
This is a specifically human tendency. We expect specific situations to proceed; generally, how they have always. But sometimes our feelings and expectations are betrayed and we doubt the new experience.
This is what encountering the God of the bible will do to you when you meet him. It is the same reason why you see the Jews struggling with the things Jesus said in the Bible. It went against what they knew. It threw everything into confusion. It was definitely not what they expected.
If there is a God, & He is powerful & beyond comprehension – it only makes sense that he would not act in accordance with our expectations.
But this is the battle. When we meet God, everything in every fiber of our being will scream at us that it is not valid. That something is amiss. That the world SHOULD fit MY expectation, experience, memory. We carry all these experiences and memories with us. Whether we went to a church or not. Whether it was a liberal church or not. Whether we’ve encountered hateful Christians or not. There’s only one thing to say. The person who wants to meet God, and know who he really is. Will not encounter what they expect.
So if God is confusing or baffling to you – then it is time to lean in, listen close, and seek to understand. He is probably trying to talk to you.
