Confessions of a Perplexed Person...

Being away for the summer has given me a sense of nostalgia for my home in Long Beach. And as I sit here in the one hundred and ten degree heat I am reminded of one of the most random things i came across while at school. One day, in my hour and a half break between classes I was on my way to the library when I passed the strangest thing. Upon hearing blaring music (the song- Break you Heart by Taio Cruz) I turned around to see a man standing in a leopard loin cloth and sneakers with a boom box on his shoulders dancing. At first the sight was quite atrocious, but then I realized hey, it's college.

After talking to some of my other friends on campus, we had many speculations about what this man could have been doing. Some thought he was on drugs, others that he was pledging for a fraternity. But no one really seemed to know.

A few days later I was walking with a friend of mine when we saw the same boy. I said, "Oh, he's back. I wonder how much they paid him to do that." Now, being the shyer gal that I am I was perfectly content to leave the question rhetorical, but not Linda. Nope, she walked right on up to him and asked, "Why? Just....why?" We actually found out that the reason was for a psychology experiment. They were studying and recording different people's reactions. All of a sudden it didn't seem so far fetched anymore.

And as I was reminiscing this story the thought occurred to me- we do not always know what God is doing. And sometimes the things He does seem rather strange to us. Sometimes they make us rather uncomfortable. But after we go through them we finally get clued in. And we realize far too late that God knew exactly what He was doing.

John Cannon puts it better than I ever could. He says, "Rarely does God do something exactly as we think He will. Our problem is that we try to second-guess God, saying, “Oh, now I know what God is planning to do!” Moses experienced this as he learned how God was going to deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt. God told him He would harden Pharaoh's heart. Yet, the result was not what Moses anticipated. Rather than allowing the Hebrews to leave, Pharaoh increased their hardship. Rather than becoming a hero among the Hebrews, Moses was despised by them for bringing greater suffering. Moses returned to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?”(Exod. 5:22).

"Much of the frustration we experience as Christians has nothing to do with what God does or doesn't do. It has everything to do, rather, with the false assumptions we make about how we think God will and should act.

"It is foolish to attempt to do God's work using your own “common sense.” God does not eliminate your common sense, He consecrates it. He gives you His wisdom so you can understand His ways.

"As you look back on God's activity in your life, you will recognize the supreme wisdom in how He has led you. As you look forward to what God may do, be careful you do not try to predict what He will do next. You may find yourself completely off the mark."

So many times we look at God like He's crazy. How insulting to a Majestic God! "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my 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. What would happen if we never questioned, just stepped out in faith? I'll tell you one thing, we might have the courage to dance in nothing but a loin cloth and sneakers if it's what God wanted, no matter how crazy it may sound.

Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."