12/29/24
Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
God is constantly in a state of creation. Always building, moving things around, connecting parts and pieces into a workable whole. God can take the most dissimilar bits and construct something new, something brilliant. We humans marvel and call it a miracle or a breakthrough. But it is just God doing His thing.
At some point in our lives, we are all looking for a solution; we are looking for an answer to a challenge that confronts us. We are looking for a breakthrough. Depending upon the type of challenge, we can spend hours, days, even years trying to find the solution.
A breakthrough is an act of overcoming an obstacle or resistance. It also means a major achievement of success that allows for further progress. Breakthroughs come in all sorts and sizes. Waiting for a job and finally get one; practicing the guitar and finally able to play the piece without a mistake; trying to decide whether to approach your ailing relative about going into a hospice situation and you have the revelation that this may be exactly what they need. Struggling over whether to quit your job and start a business in an area that you love, and then your spouse gives her support, so you go for it – breakthrough!
Every day we are sorting through scores of decisions; we are looking for solutions. Every day we are making choices that lead us to the breakthrough we want or not. In her book Uncommon Genius, Denise Shekerjian concludes that the person who can draw connections between unrelated points of view will likely be the one who makes the creative breakthrough. She says that the most creative people immerse themselves in the action of creation and free themselves from all the book learning and preparatory steps that cause delay.
It makes me think of performing a song. There is a lot of preparation, practice, trial and error before I get a song ready to sing. But despite all that practice and thought of technique, when I sing, I must rid myself of all that. The more I can release the preparation, the more successful the song, the more Spirit can move through me. And it’s not that I play it technically correct; it is that I am not thinking about technique while performing. At least that is my goal; it doesn’t happen often. But when it does, it is a breakthrough, a spiritual accomplishment resulting from the logical and emotional choices that I have made.
I think we’ve all done something like this: The other night I was trying to remember a particular product’s name. I knew the name, but I could not recall it. I racked my brain to no avail. Then I forgot all about it and an hour later, just as I laid my head on the pillow, the name came to me. I can’t attribute it to a senior moment, because I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember … which sadly is only until last Thursday. But this is how our brain works; this is how life works.
Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, gives us this wisdom: “For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” For things to present themselves, we must let them go. Sounds a lot like “Let go, let God.” For our good to come to us, we must not fret, worry, and fear. Instead, we trust and release. For a solution to whatever problem we are facing, it sounds like we need to take a new perspective, or as Hanh says, “abandon our views’ about it.
Christ said it another way, “Turn the other cheek.” If someone strikes you on the cheek, what are we supposed to do? “Turn the other cheek.” Although we tend to read his words literally, perhaps there is more to these words. Perhaps what he is saying is to take on a new perspective, look at the situation from a different point of view … perhaps from a higher, more spiritual perspective. Perhaps when we get slapped in the face by life, we are to abandon our views about the situation and be open to something new and make another choice as a reaction.
Through God’s nudges, guidance, and inspiration humanity is still doing this, finding breakthroughs, even in 2024. This year the FDA approved a drug that uses the patient’s own skin cells to block inoperable melanoma. Also, there have been groundbreaking medical trials on the first lung cancer vaccine. The development of the HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir, showed a 96-100% success rate in trials this year. With Spirit’s help, we are finding new ways to move forward; we are finding breakthroughs.
Why are breakthroughs even important? The answer is because that is how Spirit moves through us. When we are open to it, Spirit whispers whatever knowledge we need for a situation, whatever strength, whatever skills; Spirit provides whatever is required. When we lean on our own understanding, rely on worldly advice, and ignore the work of Spirit, we don’t always make a proper connection between ideas.
For instance, researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts.
However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint residues, it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car.
MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills. The Ornithological Behaviorist very quickly concluded the cause: when crows eat roadkill, they always have a lookout crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger. They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Caw, caw", not even one could shout "Truck, truck."
When we have released all of our own mental connections, our views and opinions about things, God will supply new connections. From Romans 7:6 we have: “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.”
This is true of our relationship with Christ. When we can stop thinking for a moment of all the should and should-nots, stop all the self-blame and self-condemnation, and just be still, Christ presence will fill us; God will breakthrough our self-imposed blockages and fill us with the hope, peace, joy, abundance and health we seek.
So, it is my prayer that we will release our old perspectives and attitudes and be open to the creative spirit of God within us. Christ is here to help us change, grow, evolve, and transcend our current status, and move our vision to the perfect plans that God has for us.
Each of us is on the verge of a wonderful development; it is upon us. Spirit is ready to express through us in a new and dynamic way. Accept God’s breakthroughs with faith and enjoy what is to come. I wish you a joyous, abundant, health-filled, peaceful, loving, and happy New Year.
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