Learning to Unlearn

An exert from In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.

"Almost like a hard drive with a computer virus, our minds have infected files.  Irrational fears and misconceptions keep us from operating the way we were designed to.  And if those fears and misconceptions aren't installed, they undermine everything we do.

Half of learning is learning.  The other half of learing is unlearning.  Unfortunately, unlearning is twice as hard as learning.  It's like missing your exit on the freeway.  You have to drive to the next exit and then double back.  Every mile you go in the wrong direction is really a two-mile error.  Unlearning is twice as hard, and it often takes twice as long.  It is harder to get old thoughts out of you rmind than it is to get new thoughts into your mind.

That is the challenge Jesus faced, isn't it?

If you study the teachings of Christ, you'll realize that learning wasn't His primary goal.  His primary goal was unlearning.  He was reverse engineering religious minds.  And those can be the toughest minds to change.  That is why two phrases are repearted over andover again in the Sermon on the Mount.

'You have heard that is was said...'
'But I tell you...'

What was Jesus saying and doing?  He was uninstalling Old Testament concepts and upgrading then with New Testament truths.

'You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'  But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person.  If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also.'  Matthew 5:38-39

...Half of spiritual growth is learning what we don't know.  The other half is unlearning what we do know.  And it is the failure to unlearn irrational fears and misconceptions that keep us from becoming who God wants us to be."

I related this to my fears of labor.  I had a lot of fear tied up in pain and the unknown.  It took me while to even recognize the fear that I was holding on to.  But once I did, God was able to reprogram my mind to trust Him and depend upon His understanding. 

I also find this true in my spiritual walk as well.  There were many concepts and 'rules' that I had to unlearn.  Being a christian is really simple.  Love God with all your heart and love others the same.  But sometimes we over complicate things, because of our humanity.  We make up "rules", because it makes us feel secure. When we should be finding our security in Christ and not "laws".   

A Big God

Here is another great exert from the book I'm reading.

"Astronomers have spied on galaxies 12.3 billion light-years from earth.  To put that distance into perspective, consider the fact that light traveling 186,000 miles per second only takes eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles between the sun and planet earth.  Sunlight is only eight minutes old.  But light from the furthest galaxy takes 12.3 billion years to get here.  That distance is virtually incomprehensible!  And God says that is about the distance between His thoughts and our thoughts.......

'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,' declares the Lord.  'As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' - Isaiah 55:8-9

.....Your best thought about God on your best day falls 12.3 billion light years short of how great and how good God really is.  We underestimate God's goodness by at least 12.3 billion light-years.

You know what the greatest tragedy in life is?  It is someone whose god gets smaller and smaller with each passing day.

Maybe it's time to stop placing four-dimensional limits on God.  Maybe it's time to stop putting God in a box the size of your cerebral cortex.  Maybe it's time to stop creating God in your image and let Him create you in His. 

The more we grow the bigger God should get.  And the bigger God gets, the smaller our lions will become."

I know it's so easy for me to put God in a box and try to make Him what I want Him to be.  But when we do that we are limiting what He can do in our lives.  I know when I surrender completely to His will for me that only then do I experience True freedom in my life and my walk.

And I love what Mark said about trying to create God in our image.  Because isn't that what we all do.  We think of an old man (usually white) with a beard looking down on us from the clouds.  When God is so much more than that or that we could ever imagine.  I try my best to not think of an image when I think of God.  But think of love and peace and strength and qualities that He is.  The qualities that I want. 

And I know that God is pretty wonderful, but isn't it great to know that He is greater than we could ever imagine.  I mean sit and think for a second on how wonderful you think God is....take a few minutes.  And with all the brain power you have to think of His goodness, we still have a fracture of a clue of how great He is.  I tell you what, I am not going to miss Heaven.  Because if God is as great as all this, I've got to meet this person in all His glory.  That is definitely an eternity I want!!

A Prosperious Future

God is so great! We recently had a very joyous thing happen is our lives.  And I can't praise God enough for it.  Truly his plans are not our plans, but are better.  I thank God for this opportunity.  I can't say details, but I just wanted to give it up to God for being....God.  Its all summed up in my favorite verse....

"I say this, because I know what I am planning for you', says the Lord.  'I have good plans for you,not plans to hurt you.  I will give you hope and a good future"  Jeremiah 29:11