So I'm taking a drawing class, a beginner's drawing class from an amazing lady and artist - Gayle Liman.
Why am I writing about it? Today I believe God showed me another picture of how we are to interact with Him. Haha, yes God showed me a picture during drawing class; pretty cool.
We are learning blind contour drawing, to train ourselves to see with our 'right' brain. The right brain mode is supposed to be the side of the brain where you see things as they are and not be interfered by our expectations, assumptions and expectations.
So to blind contour draw you position yourself in a way that you can't see your drawing hand, nor the paper. Then you look at a complex object (usually your other hand) and you draw it. The purpose isn't to draw an exact replica, but to begin to draw all that you see. All the little lines, bulges, curves and nuances. You are training yourself to see with your 'right' brain. When you draw with your 'left' brain (which isn't wrong, and is necessary for more complex work), you miss many of the subtleties because you ignore details, or add based on what you think it should be, or expect it to be. Much like when we read and substitute or miss words and change the original meaning of the sentence or paragraph. I realize I'm probably describing this exercise very wrong, but this is what I'm getting from it thus far.
Now here's where the picture arises. God asked me tonight how I approach reading scripture.
Do I come to my Lord and His Word in 'left brain mode', and do I read to discover what I already know (or in my arrogance think I already know), or to confirm what I want it to say. Do I come bringing my past experiences and teachings from people and myself and thereby simply continue to recreate God in man's image and thoughts. Because of this, I fail to make myself 'teachable' by God and His infinite wisdom. Is this the 'failure' of the church (of which I must put myself into belonging)? In our desire to not appear too naive, or lacking wisdom or dare I say childlike; do I need to come to the lesson with my pre-conceived notions and thoughts and with a loud voice proclaim them in the class - oh has, and is, this me at times!
Or do I come before the Creator in 'right brain mode' and let Him truly speak to me? Do I simply let what is before me, speak to me? Do I believe His Word is alive, and inspired by Him and therefore want to learn from it, have Him teach me with things I do not currently understand (1 Corinthians 1:21)? Do I believe His Word when it says that His ways are above mine, and His thoughts are greater than mine, and that thru the wisdom of this world I will never truly understand God. If I believe this, then I must truly approach Him with an open mind (in my 'right' brain) and see all that is there, and all that He wants me to see.
As we were being taught tonight Gayle provided another 'ah hah' moment, that slipped me into reminiscing. When we are truly in right brain mode, we can't talk and in fact other noises and distractions disappear to us. Oh, they are still there, we are just so engrossed in what is before us we 'zone out' (something I am very familiar with my wife and children can attest to). This brought back many pleasant memories of times with family and friends, especially my children when they were young. Playing, wrestling or watching them I at times could have been hit by a train because I wouldn't have known it was there. I experience the same when I photograph, build things at home and yes sometimes even while working. Thankfully I can think of times while reading God's Word that I have forgotten about everything else and I can say it is especially in those times that I have been spoken to with before unknown understanding. It's at these times I believe that I have been given a glimpse into the heart and mind of God - and isn't that what I am truly after? I've come to fully embrace (much more than just knowing) the fact that my loving Father knows everything about me there is to know. I now come to Him, to learn about Him. Unfortunately there are many more times that I am very much in left brain mode, and the distractions of the world are very present during that entire time with God. And as I think about it, it is when I learn something new, the least often.
Romans 11:34 NLT - For who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT - “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Job 38:2, 4-5 NLT - “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
1 Corinthians 1:21 NLT - Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.