Patterns and Principles – Part 6

I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes. Psalms 119:59

Thinkers: Thinkers like to know – everything. They’re the investigators, scientists, and inventors among us. They love to discover truths no one else has uncovered, and master bodies of knowledge, skills, and hobbies on their own. They have amazing memories when it comes to retaining information about things they’re interested in. On the minus side, thinkers can be introverted; they enjoy having their own space. So what’s the sin that can ‘so easily trip up’ a thinker? a) Insensitivity to others. Sometimes thinkers love being right more than they love the people around them. And they’re not always comfortable expressing emotion or affection. They’re inclined to express their feelings indirectly or through gestures, so it can feel like they’re takers and not givers. They don’t like to lose arguments, and they don’t like to be interrupted. They enjoy solitude for hours on end – even days. That doesn’t mean they’re more spiritual than the rest of us; it just means they have a lower need for community and connection. The problem is we weren’t created to fly solo. You can only grow spiritually as you give to others and are willing to receive from them. Jesus said, ‘By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’ (John 13:35). b) Thinkers often struggle with the concept of ‘faith’. That doesn’t make them bad people; most are honest doubters. Faith and reason aren’t necessarily opposed, but when reason won’t take you another step, faith in God enables you to keep going. Life will hand you situations that reason alone can’t resolve – that’s when you need faith in God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, it is good to have reason but not at the expense of faith. Give me that faith even when things seem different. In Jesus’ Name, Amen