(First published May 27, 2021).

This jumped out at me the other morning:

“While Peter thought about the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him…” Acts 10:19

While Peter thought….the Holy Spirit said.

Peter had just experienced a crazy vision while waiting for lunch. He wasn’t just loopy from being hungry, although maybe his stomach was growling. No, God had just shown him something, threefold, that made no sense to him; in fact, it went counter to his entire cultural experience. He was confused.

If that happened to me today, I’d probably reach for my phone to google “threefold confusing vision” and then get lost in 100 search results and end up who knows where on the internet. Or, maybe I’d Insta-story it and spend 10 minutes picking font and background and music to accompany it. Maybe I’d Facebook it too, editing my description a couple of times for grammar (I know, I know, the writer in me). But if I did any or all of that——I’d lose the punch of the moment. I’d miss what God was trying to communicate to me.

Maybe Peter would have done all of those things too if he’d had an iPhone or a laptop. After all, he was kind of well known for being impulsive. But he didn’t have those things, so he thought.

Do you remember thinking? I do. Sometimes I feel like it’s something I did in another lifetime. Sometimes I forget how it’s actually done: you know, just you. Alone. With your thoughts. Following them through. Musing. Pondering. Contemplating. Arriving at a thorough decision. I feel frustrated, often, that I start to consider a situation but am quickly diverted before giving it the attention that it needs. Then I draw a conclusion that I know isn’t complete…isn’t properly vetted. Sometimes, because God is gracious, those conclusions end up ok—but sometimes they are shown for not being given the attention they deserve.

But look at what happened when Peter thought: “the Holy Spirit said…” The Spirit told him that some people were going to arrive at the house and that he was to go with them. He did. Implied he was to trust that that next step would lead to the understanding he needed. It did: the exclusive ownership of Messiah by Jewish culture shattered as it became clear the gospel was now to go to the Gentiles. Then the crazy vision made total sense and Peter was able to see, afterward, that God had been preparing him for the thing beforehand. He could see his partnership in one of the biggest events in church history.

I suggest we think about how to best start thinking again. We don’t have to journey into the desert with a jug of water and loaf of bread, or trudge down a cliff onto an inaccessible stretch of shoreline (though I really do love sitting by the ocean while figuring things out). It means taking a walk without my headphones or doing my housework without a TV show on in the background. It means journaling my inner processing (must say, that has always been my forte) and tuning my social media waaaayyyy down. (Note: social media is probably the biggest force of opposition to just plain independent thinking, as well as the hugest distraction most of us face throughout each day). I suggest considering what in your days keeps you from having quiet time in your head and eliminate it so that you can perceive when the Holy Spirit speaks.

(On a related note: Church, in these clamorous, tumultuous times, we need to reclaim our alone time with the Lord. If we waited on the Holy Spirit to speak into Unprecedented Issues, how much of our division over the past 14 months could have been avoided? I submit that we have thought too little and flesh-spoken too much.)

The next time we are faced with a decision, an opinion we need to land in, a situation that confuses us—let’s just stop and wait on the Holy Spirit to ‘splain. What’s ahead may not be culture-shattering, but it will much more likely line up with God’s direction.

Go forth and think.