Don’t you love it when someone anticipates your needs?
You feel good when someone makes provision for something you’ll require before the need even arises. Or when they start setting in motion something for you before you even ask.
It makes you feel sort of special, doesn’t it?
As a teen, I’d occasionally stop by a little fish-and-chip joint on my way home from school. This little restaurant had an open kitchen, and the owner/cook could see the street through the front window.
Carlo, the owner, would see me get off the bus and wait at the lights. He knew what I liked to eat, so he’d start deep-frying my halibut before I even crossed the street and entered his restaurant.
He anticipated what I’d want and started cooking it before I even placed my order.
Do you ever feel a bit shaky when you’re “up at bat” in life?
Sometimes we face daunting challenges, and don’t feel we’re capable of facing them on our own. We feel like we need a bit of help, someone who can take over for us when we’re at our weakest.
Someone like a pinch hitter.
In baseball, a pinch hitter acts as substitute who bats for a teammate. The pinch hitter might step in because the original player is injured, or when the one next up at bat is a less effective hitter, such as when a pitcher is worn out after six or seven innings pitching.
The manager might decide that the substitute has a better chance of helping their team to score, or may send in the pinch hitter to execute a specific play. In many cases, the pinch hitter will be called upon at a critical moment in the game.
Sounds like a handy person to have around, doesn’t it?
Did you know that believers have a heavenly “pinch hitter”?
This teammate who goes come to your aid is the Holy Spirit Himself.
Are you planning on firing up the grill to barbecue some meat this summer?
Many people believe the key to success is to marinate the meat beforehand.
When you marinate food before barbecuing it, more is going on than meets the eye (or the taste buds).
You’re doing more than simply soaking the food in a seasoned liquid to add extra flavour to it.
You’re actually changing its structure and making it yield.
Marinating tenderizes meat, breaking down tough connective tissues to make it more palatable. It also helps meat retain moisture, ensuring that the cooked meat will be juicy and not dry.
Marinades usually have a sharp, acidic ingredient, like wine, vinegar or lemon juice, or an enzymatic one, like yogurt of papaya. Herbs, spices and oils are added as well.
Whether you use a red-wine-based marinade for beef dishes, or a tangy yogurt-lemon one for chicken, your meat is guaranteed to turn out tender.
Likewise, when we meditate on God’s Word, or “marinate” in it, we’re doing more than simply adding Biblical quotations to our knowledge base.
As we absorb and internalize Scripture, it changes us and doesn’t leave us the same.
Does your dog or cat come running when it hears the can opener?
Does your husband?
I guess we all tune in to sounds that are important to us, don’t we?
Parents are able to zero in on the specific cry of their child at a playground. They’re able to filter out the sounds of other children to focus on their own.
If you drop some coins on the floor, everyone’s head swivels toward the sound. Our ears strain out the other ambient noises in the environment and prick up at the sound of money tinkling.
Obviously, our family and money are things that are important to us.
But what about the messages that God is trying to send us?
Do we tune in to those with as much attention?
Or are there so many distractions in our lives that we’re unable to focus on the character of God and His love for us?
Maybe we need to adjust the signal-to-noise ratio in our lives.
If you’re out for a walk in nature, you may not realize how much you’re being tricked.
You may think you’ve got an accurate picture of the natural world around you, but in many cases, you’re being fooled.
That’s because some creatures are masters of deception.
Stick insects camouflage themselves by mimicking the shape and colour of twigs on a tree. Moths may blend in so well with the bark pattern of the tree they’re resting on that you’d never know they’re there.
The killdeer bird fakes having a broken wing to make a predator think she will be an easy meal, thereby luring it away from the vulnerable chicks in her nest before she flies away.
Even beautiful butterflies get in on the act of trickery. Some species have markings on their wings that look like huge eyes. The eyespots may discourage a predator from attacking by making it think the insect is in fact a much larger animal.
These false eyes may serve another purpose: to encourage an attacker to aim for the wrong target. The markings deflect an attack away from the butterfly’s head or body to parts less vital for survival, such as its wing margins. By using this deception, the butterfly outwits its enemies and is able to fly away with a torn wing at worst, but otherwise relatively unscathed.
Butterflies aren’t the only creatures to use misdirection in this way:
Satan does, too, and we need to be wise to his tactics. We may not realize how much he’s tricking us.
A few years ago in Vienna, Kenyan Olympic champion Eluid Kipchoge made history.
He became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, a feat that had long seemed impossible.
After running the 26.2 mile course in one hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds, Kipchoge drew comparisons to Sir Roger Bannister. Bannister was the Briton who in 1954 became the first person to run one mile in under four minutes, an achievement also once thought to be unattainable.
Kipchoge said something very significant after his race: “I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”
Why did he say that?
Because Kipchoge knew that a funny thing had happened after Bannister’s victory: other people began breaking the four-minute mile as well.
They suddenly saw that it was possible, and were inspired to believe that if Bannister could do it, so could they. The barrier he broke for people was just as much a mental one as a physical one.
Do you have a “four-minute mile” in your life? Are there things you would like to achieve, but you feel they’re impossible?
Take courage, because God specializes in breaking barriers!
You’ve got to love a plant that turns pink in the autumn.
I’m referring to the Euonymus alatus shrub, whose leaves change from green to a vivid, hot pink in the fall.
One of its nicknames is “burning bush,” because in autumn the shrub looks like it’s on fire. It must have reminded people of the burning bush Moses encountered in Exodus 3, through which God spoke to him.
I think God uses many different ways to speak to us today, each a “burning bush” tailored to our unique personalities.
Probably the primary way that God communicates to us is through Scripture. We read or hear a verse that seems to speak directly into our situation. By reading the words of Jesus, we “hear” God’s heart. We may also receive a word from the Holy Spirit or sense God’s guidance through prayer.
There are many instances in the Bible of God giving someone a message through dreams or visions. He may relay information in a dramatic fashion via an audible voice, or the more subtle “still, small voice.”
Other times God may use another person to convey something to you: a Christian speaker or author, or a family member or friend who’s a believer. God may also speak to you through the lyrics of a song or hymn.
He might be sending a message to you through your circumstances, especially via some difficult situation. Or, you may encounter a coincidence that seems like a “sign,” and you think God may be trying to tell you something.
With me, I feel that God occasionally “speaks” to me through nature.
“Why do we have to learn math? We’ll never use it in real life!”
Did you ever say something like that to your teachers in school?
It’s true that you may never have used algebra once you graduated from high school. Your knowledge of trigonometry or calculus may have lain dormant since then, too.
But that wasn’t actually the point of algebra, or any other subject.
The point of learning math was to train your brain.
Mastering mathematical concepts increases your problem-solving skills, develops flexible thinking and creativity, and encourages analytical reasoning.
These are things that are extremely valuable in every area of life.
But you might not have been able to see that when you were trying to understand the Pythagorean theorem in school.
That’s because your training often won’t make sense until much later.
Image of sweet red bean soup by Roland from Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Do you like brownies? How about chocolate cake?
If you do, then you and I are on the same page when it comes to sweets. We both have the same idea of what a perfect dessert is.
Not everyone might agree with us, however.
Take my friend John, whose background is Greek. He likes syrupy-sweet desserts like the Greek classic baklava, or nut-based ones like walnut cake, things I love as well.
John happens to be married to an Asian woman. They agree on most things, except when it comes to dessert.
Case in point: John’s in-laws once treated him to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. They promised him an extra-special dessert to finish off the banquet, something he’d absolutely love.
John couldn’t wait: his mouth was watering in anticipation of this mystery dessert. He imagined something intensely sweet to finish off the meal, perhaps a cake with multiple layers and lots of icing.
But when the dessert was placed in front of him, John was confused.
It was red bean soup.
While this dish is popular among Chinese people and is considered the crown jewel to end a banquet with, it wasn’t John’s idea of dessert. He was gracious in front of his in-laws, but secretly felt cheated.
The problem? John’s definition of dessert was different to that of his in-laws. His expectations were askew, so he was disappointed with what he got.
I think the same thing happens to us when read certain Bible verses—we may build up incorrect expectations based on our ingrained ideas.
The Faith Cafe 
