Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I watched the world come to life at the Touch of the Master’s Hand this morning, and I marveled at how nature intuitively knows what to do to survive and how to communicate with one of its own. These deer travel around the farm together, and they never seem to “fight” over who gets what to eat. They just share. There’s always enough to go around, and there is always trust that there will be more just around the corner. It’s as if nature is so in tune with the Creator that it effortlessly goes about life and needs no further reminder about what it takes to live and thrive. It just does. Man is an entirely different story, and if there is anything that can get mankind in trouble, it’s relying on the intellect while ignoring our God-given instincts. When the mind of man intervenes to change the natural course of life because it needs to make intellectual sense, we get ourselves in a lot of trouble. As surely as the animal world has an “instinct” to survive, man needs to tune into the Holy Spirit to navigate through the Journey of Faith for Survival, too. Isn’t that the way you see it, too?

The mind of man might be the most significant thing that sets us apart from the animal kingdom, but it’s the mind of man that God tells us to control ON OUR OWN – “Take captive every thought” and “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”…He leaves the heavy lifting of the mind up to us. Sometimes, instead of relying on our God-given instincts, we rely on the mind of man, which can be as ever-changing as the waves in the sea. We attempt to out-think God, and we pick apart our circumstances as we try to change our course in Life. Some of us kick and stomp when trouble shows up, and we insist on living in the past as if that will somehow change our future. We forge through life with a determination to make things different, and although our mind can play a big role in our joy, we kick our God-given instincts to the curb in exchange for intellectual conclusions almost every time. We sometimes get out of tune with the Living God, and we are determined to “make things happen,” but without the Touch of the Master’s Hand, our efforts will often just lead to destruction. Sad but true.

It’s easy to see how and why the intellect gets so much attention…especially these days. After all, most parents focus a whole lot more on what Johnny learned in school today rather than what God taught Johnny today. Parents seem to care a whole lot more about honor roll and college picks than they do about honoring the God of all Creation and whether or not Johnny will be “picked” for Heaven or Hell. Parents focus on the strength and stamina of their child(ren) on the ball field and what the stats look like instead of focusing on teaching Johnny how to rely on the Living God for strength and stamina on and off the field. Many new parents read every book imaginable to intellectualize the care and feeding of a baby as if instinct has no place in raising a healthy child, all the while the #1 Best Seller of all time, the Instruction Manual for Life, sits on the shelf to gather dust. Based on the example being set for the next generation, is it any wonder they’re putting so much time and attention into what they can cram into their brain instead of what they can pour out with the Heart?

Some people are inclined to rely on an “intellectual” faith because they’re too insecure to Rely on things they can’t rationalize. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out very well for them in the End with a God who requires complete Trust in Him. Hebrews 11:1 must drive the intellectuals crazy – ” Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” – hmm…how do you intellectualize that? God can’t be rationalized, no matter how hard the intellectual tries, and He doesn’t care about how much head knowledge we have. There won’t be a test after we die to see how much head knowledge we have about our Savior. If that were the case, the intellectual will probably be very bored as they attempt to spit out “facts” stored in the brain to impress a God who ONLY cares about the Heart. Unlike our educational system, nobody is going to get a free ride to Heaven based on how much they know. God expects us to Trust Him in the journey and to keep moving forward without a detailed GPS system that prompts us to move, ESPECIALLY when it doesn’t make sense! After all, He provides the nourishment for these deer, but He expects them to do their part to find the food and the water provided by Him. It’s the reliance on our God-given instincts and our trust in the Master’s Hand that keeps our lives in Balance IF we keep moving forward with Him in the Driver’s Seat.

I’m flying high and I’m trusting the Master’s Hand to provide for me and to give me Direction for the Journey. I’ll keep moving forward and I’ll trust in my God-given instincts, aka the Holy Spirit that comes only through a rich Relationship with the Living God… and I won’t stop until He stops me. I’m learning more every day, and, just like the deer in this photo, I’ll always hunger for more. I’m confident that my Desire to Know Him better pleases Him, but it’s my HEART that pleases Him the most. I don’t need to Understand His Will to obey it. I don’t need to Understand my Marching Orders to accept them. I don’t need to scrutinize every word of the Word of God to Believe it. He’s my God. I’m His Child. I’m no Expert, but I am Confident of this: He died for me, and He wants me to Live for Him. I’m a Treasure in the eyes of the Living God! David prayed that God would “Keep me as the apple of your eye” and “Hide me in the shadow of your wings,” and no “research” is needed to Understand what David meant. There is no way to Measure how much David loved God, BUT he was referred to as “a man after God’s own heart”. I want to be like David. I don’t care if I’m the brightest bulb on the planet – I want to be someone willing to Honor and Obey WITHOUT having all the answers…because that’s what Faith looks like. The world would be a much better place if we all sought to be more like David than Einstein.

How about you?