mundane realism

February 16, 2005

humans don't like change. we like to get into a routine and stick with it. routines are comfortable and familiar. they're easier, safer, more controllable by our own power and strength and more comprehensible in our mind. we are all prone to it, in all aspects of life, from the little to the big.

first day of school, you enter the classroom. what's one of the first things you do? you claim your seat. once you've claimed it, it's yours for the rest of the year. no one will take it from you, because they've claimed their seat somewhere else in the room. that's their seat. the one you have is yours. no one would dare do otherwise. so day in and day out, you sit on your seat. but what would happen if one day someone came along and took your seat? how would you feel? what would you do?

a similar thing happened with me about two weeks ago with my locker. at club markham, there isn't assigned lockers. it's a free for all. whoever gets to the club first gets first dibs at the locker they desire. the thing is, everyone who goes to club markham is a regular. i've seen the same faces ever since september. we go around the same time, we do the same activities/exercises, and we use the same lockers. it's an unspoken rule. once you've claimed your space, it's yours for the taking. no one will mess with it. a new guy showed up two weeks ago. unknowing these unspoken rules, he arrived to the club before i did and took my locker. when i arrived, i saw him putting him stuff into my locker. the audacity! i was confused momentarily. what was i supposed to do? yes, the answer is painfully obvious, i know. but the issue isn't simply selecting another locker. my routine was messed up. that which was familiar became different.

one professor that i had last year made us switch seats every class. she knew it was unnerving for us, but she also knew that we get into that which is comfortable far too easily. she wanted to rock the boat a little, since that's what we needed to be doing to be creative.

but it's no wonder that we are so afraid to step out in faith and trust God to do the things only He can do. our visions are too small. we plan for the possible, not for the divine and supernatural. we only see that which is in front of us. we cannot possible fathom how God can pull through. we forget how powerful He is and end up undermining what He could do by our lack of faith and trust. instead of moving, we stay still, paralyzed by comfort and security. instead of stepping out, we retreat, and cling on to the familiar. the Christian life wasn't meant to be like this. it was meant to be fueled and powered by the Holy Spirit. it was meant to be filled with awe and wonder of our coming King.

when we trust God and step out in faith, we are positioning ourselves to see God do the things only He can do. it's in these places when we know full-well that it is God moving/directing, because there's no way that it's on our own might. it's a very exciting place to be. i think back when peter walked on water. that must have been so exhilarating. the sad reality is that these out-of-the-ordinary events only happen sporadically because we don't trust/ask God enough. if we only trusted Him more and moved with Him to the unknown/uncertain places that He's calling us to... the possibilities are endless.

the mundane is far too familiar. even in experiments, they've coined the term "mundane realism" as how much an experiment simulates the real world. we must not be victims of this any longer. if God is calling you out, move in faith. a life with Him, fueled and enabled by the Holy Spirit is the place to be.

"wake up, o sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" - ephesians 5:14 [NIV]

Posted by Leo Chan at February 16, 2005 5:07 PM