08 May 2009

Superstition vs. Intuition



They say timing is everything. For example, I sometimes show up to visit someone in the hospital or call somene on the phone or even make contact with a long lost friend on Facebook only to hear them say, "You showed up just at the right time" (or something to that effect). The funny thing is I may not have seen them or thought of them in weeks, months, or years, but they came across my mind (or spiritual radar screen) and I felt compelled to contact them. When I follow through on such intuitions is when I am more likely to hear a comment about how they are glad I made contact at that particular time. Perhaps you may think of a particular example that demonstrates this point and if you wish share it as a comment below. Such coincidences seem to happen to people of faith who do not presume upon the Lord. They certainly happened to Jesus as described in the following story from the Gospel According to Luke.

"When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn't want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, "He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place."

Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don't have to go to all this trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I'd be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I'm a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; another, 'Come,' and he comes; my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works." When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well." (Luke 7:1-17, The Message translation)

Superstition or intuition? Superstition has to do with false beliefs that spook us. Intuition is a term I'm using to mean the feelings or impulses we get that come to us from God via the Holy Spirit. Jesus healed a Roman captain's daughter. Jesus knew she was healed before it happened and so did the captain. The captain knew Jesus could do it. God calls us to do it too. Who is God calling you to contact today?

Video > Stevie Wonder: Superstition > http://tr.im/kPrp
Impressive acoustic version of this song by a young Japanese boy >http://tr.im/kPvX


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