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We are not here to talk religion, but we will talk about what it means to have a personal, daily walk with God. Our goal is to not waste your time and be under 5 minutes. Come! Join the discussion.
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Fear and Superstition
I guess there are significant landmarks in podcasting and this must be another one. We hit one a couple of episodes back with double digits. This one is special too, but this one is topical. There can’t be a better time for us to talk about Fear and Superstition than Episode 13.
To give you some background, I wasn’t raised in a Christ following home. Wasn’t their fault, they just didn’t know. In addition to that, my earthly birthday falls on Halloween. When I was a kid, I thought everyone was dressing up for my birthday but that is an entirely different issue.
But in addition to that, later on in life, it prompted me to ask some deep seated questions about my place in creation. Halloween means Hallow’s eve, or the night before, what the Catholic faith celebrates as All Saints day. I grew up thinking that Halloween was evil so I must be evil. Look, I’m not saying that I believe it now. I thought that I was born to be evil just because of what a calendar said.
Now I can’t bring myself to celebrate anything that glamorizes fear.
It matters what you pay attention to. You only have so much attention. So whatever you pay attention towards, it will shape you.
When I was younger, I was also superstitious. I crossed my fingers for everything, I wouldn’t walk under ladders, I would be extra careful around mirrors, I wouldn’t say anything about the Bell Witch, I would stay clear of Black Cats, not to mention Episode #13!!!!
Could Stevie Wonder be right? “When you believe in things that you don’t understand, and you suffer?
Well, I’ve found that Mr. Wonder is right. Superstition ain’t the way. But many of us believe in varying degrees of superstition.
At its root, superstition is just being hopeful for a specific outcome. What if I want the XYZ team to beat the ABC team and I’m wearing my glasses upside down? Well if they actually win, some people may make the connection of me wearing my glasses upside down, towards their victory.
But you know, we treat God the same way. Now there can be hundreds of examples of what I mean by that and some of them can sound very religious.
All I’m saying is that we can easily get into a habit of trying to manipulate God and expecting Him to give us what we want.
Of course we want good things in our life. But are we in search of only the good things, or the One who gives them?
If my children come to me only when they want something, it’s much different than when we get a chance to talk on a regular basis, there is a relationship there.
When the relationship is there, we don’t have to ask for very much. We learn to trust that it will be provided because we are loved.
Usually God Isn’t concerned about the mortgage or the water bill being paid as much as you are. Things like, should I turn left or turn right, should I quit my job, do I have a relationship with this person. All of those things, we get superstitious about.
God usually wants to talk to you about something that’s far more important than any of those things. He wants to talk to you, about you. Not what you need to fix, or how you can be better. He wants to tell you how much you are loved, no matter what you do. How valuable you are to him. How excited He gets every time you want to talk with Him.
I know it may feel a little weird to sit and hear how much you are loved. You may even ask yourself “What is that going to accomplish?” You will be amazed at the change that will happen through a genuine conversation.
If you’ve never done that, it may sound pretty strange to you. Some people may even think that talking to God is a little crazy. But I can assure you, it’s very real. And you may already be able to hear Him and not be able to identify that it is Him.