Lisa notes

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
– Albert Einstein

I—Intuition

Have you ever just known something in your gut without anyone telling you?

There are some things you know because someone explicitly taught you.

But there are other things you know because God slipped them inside you when you weren’t even aware.

If they’re truly from God, they won’t contradict what you already know about his overwhelming love and kindness.

Try This

Look for God today in your intuitive knowing, in those gut feelings that often guide your decisions unaware.

Ask for his Spirit to guide you from the inside out . . .

• in who you talk to,
• which words you use,
• which questions you bring up in a conversation.

Let your actions be driven by love, as you listen and obey God’s word underneath the words.

Learn More

• 3 Spiritual Practices for Listening Closer to God
• 6 Ways to Hear from God
  Lessons from J. I. Packer’s Knowing God
• What Your Gut Feeling Is Actually Telling You
  Researchers are beginning to understand intuition is more reliable and less mystical than previously thought.

* * *

Is there something you just know you’re supposed to do this week? How has God worked through your intuition in the past to connect you with him or someone else? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

• J – Jobs
  How do you encounter God through meaningful work?

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.

“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.”
– C.S. Lewis

H—Hearts

Hearts are our culture’s icons of love. While the heart shape as we know it is not the shape of our physical hearts, it’s the one we recognize as the center of our souls.

Try This

Scan the room you’re in right now.

• Is there a heart or something resembling a heart right where you are?
• Trace a heart in the air.
• Put your hand over your own heart and listen to the beats to a count of 50.

Thank God for surrounding you with images of love.

Let them remind you of his real love for you. Send hearts today on your own communications to keep spreading his love around the world.

The greatest commandment is love. Let it be so with us today!

Learn More

• Quote from Mere Christianity
  Read the full paragraph of the above quote from C. S. Lewis
• 30 Bible Verses on Love
• Why Does a Heart Represent Love Anyway?
  How did this shape emerge as the universal symbol for love?
• 6 Love Notes from Scripture to Print and Share
  
  

* * *

Is there an image of a heart where you are right now? Whose love do you think of first when you see a heart? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

• I – Intuition
  Have you ever intuitively encountered God?

See the index of all the posts here.

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.

Where have you seen God lately?

In our series this past week, we encountered God through these six exercises.

• Blood
  Blood is a sign of life. And where there’s life, there’s God.
• Collections
  What do you collect? How do you see God in your collection?
• Doubt
  We might think God only rewards strong faith, but he’s just as near us when we doubt.
• Empty Spaces
  Keep some empty spaces around you as breathing room for you and God.
• Food
  Trace your favorite food back to God, giving thanks along the way.
• Grandparents
  Whether you come from good seed or bad apples, find a way to discover God through your family.

Reflect today on which encounter impacted you the most.

Pray about how you’d like to encounter God more in this coming week. I’ll have suggestions ranging from hearts to mirrors.

* * *

In what spaces or people did you discover God this past week? Please share in the comments.

Coming up:

• Monday–Saturday, Encountering God from H to M

“Grandmas don’t just say ‘that’s nice’ — they reel back and roll their eyes and throw up their hands and smile. You get your money’s worth out of grandmas.”
– Author Unknown

G—Grandparents

What do (or did) you call your grandparents? Were you close to them? Do you look like them?

On my mom’s side, we called them Grandma and Granddaddy. On my dad’s side was Mamaw and Papaw. We used to spend a week every summer with them in Mississippi. We’d make mudpies, spend money when the peddler came, and go on the mail route with Granddaddy.

But we didn’t choose them. None of us get to choose our family heritage.

Sometimes we thank God for how he worked it out anyway. But sometimes we don’t.

Whether you come from good seed or bad apples, God has planned for you to discover him through your family.

Try This

Think for a few minutes about what your previous generations taught you about God.

• What did they get right about God?
• What did they get wrong?
• Who taught you the most about God’s love?

Ask God for clarity in how you are to teach the generations coming behind you.

Learn More

• Making Peace with Your Family
  10 brief spiritual tips for making peace within a dysfunctional family
• Ideas for Grandparents
  If you are a grandparent, ways to help your grandchildren grow in faith
• 16 Bible Verses for Grandparents

* * *

Who is your oldest living relative? Who has passed on that you miss the most? Which relative taught you the most about God? Please share in the comments.

Coming up:

• Sunday, Review
• This week, Encountering God from B to G

 

“God wants everyone to eat, drink, and enjoy their work. These are gifts from God.”
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (ERV)

F—Food

What is your favorite food?

Will you be eating it today? Have you thought about the lengths God has taken to bring this food to you?

Some foods are easier to trace back to God than others. Take an apple. Maybe you have an apple tree that someone planted years ago, and today you reap the fruit. Or maybe you go to Kroger and handpick your favorite variety of apple from a bin.

Other foods aren’t so easy to trace back. Candy corn is a luxurious fall treat for me. But Jenna assures me I’m only eating crayons. I still thank God for candy corn.

Try This

Trace  your favorite food back to God, giving thanks along the way.

Pizza Hut’s ham pizza is one of my favorites. I thank God for the teenage worker behind the counter who puts it in the oven, for the factory worker who assembles the raw ingredients into bags and boxes, for the farmer who tends the pigs for the ham and the wheat for the crust and the tomatoes for the sauce.

Granted, not everything we put in our mouths is good for us.

But in moderation, with wisdom, and knowledge of our bodies, the natural foods that God created are gifts from him to us. Gifts of love.

Let’s enjoy our encounters today with God through food. 

Learn More

• The Bible and Food 
  Good food demonstrates God’s goodness.  It also demonstrates our dependence upon him.
• Digesting Grace: Why the Food We Eat Matters to God
  When properly understood as a gift, it becomes clear that food is a tangible expression of God’s love for us.
• 100 Bible Verses about Food

* * *

What’s your favorite food? Can you trace it back to God? Please share in the comments.

Next:

• G—Grandparents
  We don’t get to choose our families of origin. How does God fit in?

 

“Thinking people welcome doubt. It serves them well as a valuable stepping stone to better knowledge.”
– Carl Jung

D—Doubt

We like to know.

But often we don’t. What will this day hold? Who will we hear from unexpectedly? What emotions, thoughts, behaviors will come from our own bodies today?

Your guess is as good as mine.

While we can often get the impression that God rewards certainty (those with strong faith, for example), we can also trust that God is near us when we doubt.

Especially if that doubt means we are being more honest.

Remember that God is truth. And when we are most truthful, perhaps we are most like God. Even when that truth for us is splotchy and messy.

Try This

What doubts are you pondering lately? A faith issue? A job predicament? A relationship struggle?

Ask God to show up in the doubt. Right in the middle of it. Sit with him in the uncertainty until you make peace with it. Not for answers. Just to be in his presence.

God can be found even in the doubts.

Learn More

• Is It Okay to Doubt My Faith?
  If our faith is rooted in truth and our ability to reason is a gift from God, shouldn’t he be able to handle any question we come up with?
• When You’re Not Sure
  We can’t always wait for 100% clarity. Including on matters of faith. Let’s stop being scared of being wrong.
• Suggested Books to Read
  Unfollowers: Unlikely Lessons on Faith from Those Who Doubted Jesus by Ed Cyzewski and Derek Cooper. My review here.
  Spiritual Misfit: A Memoir of Uneasy Faith by Michelle DeRusha. My review here.
  Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans. My review here.

* * *

What uncertainty is nagging you now about your faith? About life?  Please share in the comments.

Coming up next:

• E – Emptiness
  Are you holding open empty spaces for God to move?

See the whole series here.