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Last fall, a young man who works
for our lawn service came to rake our leaves. As he was getting
ready to leave after finishing, I asked him if he would also
clean our gutters. I reminded him that his supervisor had
assured me this task would be done. Because our home is
surrounded by oak trees and it was late fall, the gutter problem
was serious. “I’m not able to do it today,”
he responded, “because I don’t have a ladder in my truck. I’ll
need to come back next week when I can bring one with me.”
Once I understood his predicament, I
realized that of course he couldn’t possibly work on our roof
that day. Though disappointed, I told him, “I understand; just
do it when you can come back with a ladder.”
Only after he left did it dawn on me that I
have several large ladders quite adequate to scale the roof of
our one-story home. Why didn’t I think to suggest he use one of
them?
Lazy thinking is the answer. It’s well
recognized in psychology (and in sales and marketing strategy)
that when someone offers us a reason why something can’t
be done, we default toward accepting it. An explanation
persuades us, so often, not by its logic but because its effect
is hypnotic. We take it mindlessly as the final word, and don’t
bother to think beyond it. My failure to see an obvious answer
to a simple problem that autumn morning is a textbook example of
how this can happen.
This “explanation effect” is merely one of
many reasons we may fail to see a situation realistically. We
assume we’re thinking clearly, yet miss a critical detail that
makes all the difference. Our minds can be very lazy. We
each have many blind spots, and our capacity for skewed
perception is far greater than we usually imagine. At times we
fail to see the hippopotamus in the wading pool in front of us;
the answer to a major problem is staring us in the face, yet we
miss it.
The other side of this story is equally
interesting. When we are able to move beyond our blind spots and
cloudy thinking, and open our minds creatively to solving
problems, we are often able to see solutions that have eluded
us. The answers that come are sometimes downright surprising.
Some years ago, our family was living in a
townhouse and my office was in the basement. Because an open
stairway connected the basement and the first floor, I was often
distracted by noise from upstairs. The obvious solution would be
to install a door. Yet since the stairway had an open, expansive
design, I couldn’t think of any logical way to fit a door into
the wide space at the top or bottom of the stairs. I spent
considerable time mulling the problem over, trying to come up
with a workable design. I concluded there was no solution short
of a major modification to the stairway, which would violate the
community’s architectural standards and be too expensive to
undertake.
One evening, though, I shared my dilemma at
a Bible study. A member whom I respected for his problem-solving
skills responded that he was sure there was an easy answer. His
confidence inspired me, and I thought, He’s right, there must
be a way to do it. The next day it dawned on me that I could
insert a door at the landing point where the stairway turned
halfway down; since the stairwell was more enclosed there, this
modification was easy to make.
The solution was, in fact, so obvious and
simple that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before.
Finding Answers to Impossible Problems
Each of us enjoys such breakthrough moments
of insight from time to time, when the answer to a perplexing
problem suddenly becomes clear. Few experiences are more
thrilling--especially when we’ve grown convinced a problem is
unsolvable. We feel like dropping everything and celebrating. We
understand how Archimedes, who discovered the principle of
buoyancy while bathing, could have sprung from his tub and run
unadorned through the streets of Syracuse, crying, “Eureka”
(“I’ve found it”) (though hopefully we’re not inspired to repeat
his feat).
We have a continual need for such
epiphanies as we move through life. Life presents us with an
ongoing array of problems to solve and decisions to make. They
range from less than earth-shattering (How can I fix this
flat tire without a jack? What topic should I choose for this
term paper? How can I stop this leak in my kitchen? Who can I
ask to the dance?), to much more monumental (How can I
find work in this field when no one’s hiring? How can I gain
admission to this grad program with a GPI of 2.5? Where can I
find help for this knee pain that’s killing me? How can I find
someone to marry?).
Invariably, we each encounter certain
problems that seem to defy solution. Though we long to find an
answer to them, we grow convinced there is none. At this point
the tragedy is that we may close ourselves off to finding a
solution. Even worse, we may use our powers of intellect from
then on to convince ourselves of all the reasons the problem
cannot be solved--and so the more we ponder it, the more
intractable it seems.
Yet answers often can be found to life’s
“impossible” problems, when we open our minds and hearts fully
to discovering them. Here it helps us immensely to appreciate
two factors that we easily overlook: One is the problem-solving
nature of the mind God has placed within us; the other is the
help God extends to us in resolving problems and decisions when
we ask for it. Let’s look at both of these extraordinary
life-benefits.
Our Mind’s Creative Nature
First, the mind. It’s the nature of the
mind God has given us to seek and find good solutions to the
problems we face. To say it more strongly, he has hard-wired our
brains to do so. We’re beginning from a much greater position of
strength than we usually realize.
The Gestalt psychologists of the 1920’s and
30’s were the first in the history of psychology to appreciate
this fact. Psychology at the time was dominated by behaviorism,
with its mechanistic view of human thinking. Humans are simply a
higher form of animal, behaviorists held, who solve problems
through a tedious process of trial and error. The Gestaltists
took a deeper look and saw something more profound. When we face
a problem, they observed, our mind instinctively seeks to bring
to it a “gestalt”--which is German for form or shape. And in an
instant, we may make a giant leap forward, moving beyond trial
and error to a good solution.
Even animals from the more intelligent
species are capable of such gestalts, these researchers showed.
In one experiment, Wolfgang Köhler placed Sultan, a hungry male
chimpanzee, in a room with a bunch of bananas hanging from the
ceiling. Sultan first made several attempts to leap at them,
finding them well out of reach. Then he discovered a stick and a
box well-removed from the bananas. Sultan grabbed the stick and
attempted to strike the bananas, but again they were too high.
He bounced around the cage, angry and frustrated. Then, suddenly
he stopped, went to the box and shoved it under the bananas. He
climbed on it and, with a small leap, knocked the bananas down
with his stick.
After futilely attempting to solve his
problem through random trial and error, Sultan’s mind suddenly
fast-forwarded to the right solution. Köhler saw in this
episode, and many like it in experiments with primates, a
parallel to how the human mind works in solving much more
complicated problems. We begin by trying one possibility, then
another, exhausting our options step by step, yet only hitting
roadblocks. Then our brain suddenly functions on a deeper level,
producing an answer so remarkably appropriate that we wonder how
it had escaped us until now.
Our Subconscious
Ally
Köhler and his associates*
were more concerned with demonstrating the fact that our mind
functions this way than with explaining how it happens.
Psychologists after them, though, came increasingly to
appreciate the role that our subconscious plays in this process.
It’s now widely understood that much of our thinking takes place
subconsciously. And our subconscious mind typically does a much
better job at creative thinking than our conscious mind does. We
may feel we’re making no progress in solving a difficult
problem, when in fact our subconscious mind is wrestling with it
earnestly. In time, a welcome solution may suddenly emerge
consciously, with all the impact of a divine revelation.
Poet Amy Lowell
describes such an experience in composing a poem:
How carefully and precisely the subconscious mind functions, I
have often been a witness to in my own work. An idea will come
into my head for no apparent reason; “The Bronze Horses,” for
instance. I registered the horses as a good subject for a poem;
and, having so registered them, I consciously thought no more
about the matter. But what I had really done was to drop my
subject into the subconscious, much as one drops a letter into
the mail-box. Six months later, the words of the poem began to
come into my head; the poem--to use my private vocabulary--was
“there.”*
Countless writers, artists, composers and
scientific thinkers attest to episodes similar to Lowell’s, of
sudden inspiration in their own work--often following an
unproductive period. Their experiences document the uncanny way
the subconscious mind works, and help explain how creative
thinking occurs. We’re reminded that much more mental activity
is going on beneath the surface in our heads than we tend to
think.
Our Continual Need for God’s Help
However the creative process is understood,
the Gestaltists were the first to appreciate its
implications--especially for solving the normal problems of
life. What they saw, plainly and simply, is that our mind
inclines toward finding good solutions to our challenges.
This basic insight is an extremely
redemptive one for us as Christians. It helps us appreciate a
vital feature of the mind God has placed within us, and an
important part of what it means to be made in the image of God.
God has given us the ability to think constructively, and to
find answers even to some of our most vexing problems.
This doesn’t mean that he has created us to
function effectively without his help. We desperately need his
Lordship and his constant influence in our life. Apart from his
help, we sabotage our own interests in countless ways, and our
mind may form gestalts that reflect anything but his best for
our life.
But when God provides for us in any area,
he normally does so by influencing the natural processes of life
that he has created rather than by overriding them. This means
that when he guides us, he typically does so, not by giving us a
direct revelation, but by guiding the mind he has given us,
enabling it to function as he intended. Appreciating this
process deepens our sense of purpose, for we recognize that God
has given us a role in solving the predicaments that we face.
Yet it also reminds us that we are
dependent on God for life and breath and the ability to think
clearly. The point never comes in our lives when we no longer
need God’s help in resolving problems, and now are able to run
on automatic pilot. The good news is that when we ask God for
wisdom, Scripture promises he will provide it (Jas 1:5).
We may be confident that the God who has given us our mind will
help it reach wise conclusions when we humbly ask for his
assistance.
The concept of gestalt increases our
confidence that this wisdom will come when we pray for it, for
we realize that even if we’re at an impasse, a moment of insight
may suddenly break through that makes all the difference. Any
day may bring with it the enlightenment we need to move forward.
We have strong reason for hope.
Gestalts in Scripture
To this end, Scripture provides us with
many examples of individuals who found answers to the most
challenging personal problems, often when they had practically
lost hope. We see people enjoying relief and the chance to make
new beginnings, from experiences of gestalt that surely
surprised them in many cases. Their experiences encourage us to
be patient and hopeful that we will find the insight we need to
turn around difficult circumstances in our own life. Some of the
most inspiring examples include:
 The
prodigal son (Lk 15: 11-31). This young man left his
supportive home, moved to a distant country, and through wild
living and many bad judgments squandered his inheritance. A
famine then set in. Things grew so bleak for him that he “hired
himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his
fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods
that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” He
clearly felt he had no alternative but to live a pitiful,
poverty-stricken existence.
Finally, though, he “came to his senses.”
It occurred to him that his father’s servants enjoyed far better
living conditions than his, and they had plenty to eat. He would
go back home, apologize profusely to his father, and ask for the
privilege of serving as one of his hired hands. Of course, when
he followed through and returned home, his father welcomed him
exuberantly and hosted a great celebration for his return. Every
indication is that he was restored to his full status as a son
in the family. At the point when things seemed most hopeless,
one moment of gestalt brought a solution, and a vast improvement
to his life.
The
woman with the hemorrhage (Mk 5:24-34). Equally
destitute, but through no fault of her own, was a woman the
Gospels describe as having suffered a blood flow for twelve
years. She had exhausted her finances seeking medical help, yet
her condition only continued to deteriorate. Then came an
unexpected opportunity to encounter Jesus--and with it a
gestalt: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” That
insight proved to be life-changing in the most thoroughgoing
sense. After pushing through a crowd and touching his robe, she
experienced healing, then received a profound compliment from
Jesus about her faith.
Paul’s decision to visit Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10).
During a particularly difficult period in his ministry, Paul and
his missionary team experienced several substantial setbacks.
They were thwarted in major attempts to enter both Asia and
Bithynia. Then they ended up in Troas, but apparently didn’t
feel conditions were right for ministry there. One night,
though, Paul had a dream of a man in Macedonia begging for his
help. In the morning, after Paul described his dream to his
friends, they quickly arrived at a gestalt: God was calling them
to evangelize Macedonia. In a moment, they moved from confusion
about their mission to clear direction: “we got ready at once to
leave for Macedonia.”
Their visit to Macedonia (Acts 16:11-40),
while not without challenges (which went with the territory in
Paul’s ministry), resulted in many conversions and the
establishing of a church in that region. Paul’s central mission
of breaking ground for the gospel in unevangelized territory was
accomplished.
Isaiah in the temple (Is 6). Isaiah, distraught over
King Uzziah’s death and over the moral and spiritual decay in
his nation, enters the temple. During a brief time of worship he
experiences a startling paradigm shift: God is looking for
someone not just to lament Israel’s problems, but to address and
remedy them. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom
shall I send? And who will go for us?’”
Isaiah’s exuberant reply: “Here am I. Send
me.”
Abraham’s search for a wife for Isaac (Gen 24). When
Genesis describes Abraham’s decision to send his servant to
Haran to seek a wife for his son Isaac, it begins by noting:
“Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord
had blessed him in every way.” Why does the writer start with
this detail?
It is probably to say that while God had
blessed Abraham beyond measure, considerable time had passed and
Isaac was still unmarried. It’s likely Abraham had tried
earnestly to find Isaac a spouse in Canaan, only to discover
that his son wasn’t compatible with the women there. Abraham had
probably been confused for some time about how to help Isaac
find a mate. If so, then the idea of going to Haran must have
come as a remarkable epiphany. Abraham realized he wasn’t bound
by geography in seeking Isaac a wife, but could go elsewhere--in
this case, to his home region. That insight--that gestalt--came
with strong conviction, and the confidence that God would send
his angel ahead and give success to the mission.
The servant’s venture to Haran, of course,
was victorious. He returned with Rebecca, who became Isaac’s
wife, and the rest is history.
Jacob’s decision to leave Laban and return to his home.
Jacob worked for many years as a shepherd for his uncle Laban in
Haran. Laban treated Jacob increasingly unfairly as time wore
on, and the situation grew more and more frustrating for Jacob
and his ever-growing family. Yet Jacob still felt loyal to Laban
and compelled to stay.
That is, until what was undoubtedly a
stunning moment of revelation. “Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Go
back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I
will be with you’” (Gen 31:3).
It’s very likely that Jacob had wanted to
return home for some time, and so God was confirming that what
Jacob wanted to do was appropriate. God was giving him
permission to leave his intolerable circumstances.
This example is helpful for any of us who
are in a demoralizing situation which we feel guilty about
leaving. It reminds us that God may be giving us
permission--even a mandate--to move on. The realization that God
wants us to leave an abusive situation can be a true eureka
moment--as it surely was for Jacob.
Two Ways God Guides
Us
Jacob’s epiphany that he should leave Haran
is interesting from another angle, for we’re told that God spoke
directly to him about what to do. It’s not clear that God did so
in any of the other examples just cited.*
Scripture cites numerous cases where God gave someone
supernatural direction, as he did here with Jacob. Yet for any
individual in Scripture--even Biblical heroes--such guidance was
the exception, usually the rare exception to that person’s
normal experience. Genesis notes only several instances when God
intervened in Jacob’s life with a direct revelation, for
instance.
Still, these examples are important, for
they remind us that God will find a way to give us the insight
we need. In most cases he will do so by influencing our mind to
function naturally and effectively, so that we reach an inspired
solution through our normal mental process. Yet on a special
occasion, when our need requires, he may break the rules of
nature and communicate to us directly--either through some
dramatic means, or by enabling us to come quickly to a
conclusion we never could have reached through reason alone.
Appreciating this fact is unspeakably
encouraging, for it deepens our confidence that God cares enough
to guide us, and will give us exactly the guidance we need, when
we need it. He has two means to do so--through influencing our
normal thought process, or by bypassing it and communicating
with us directly.
In some cases it’s impossible to know
whether God has guided us directly or not. Those wonderful
moments of gestalt that we enjoy from time to time, when we
suddenly recognize a solution to a problem that’s long puzzled
us, often feel as though we’re experiencing a supernatural
revelation from God. Yet whether in fact we are, or whether an
insight from our subconscious mind has simply bubbled to the
surface, may be impossible to determine. And we usually don’t
need to know which way it happened, either. The important thing
is that God has guided us, whether directly, or by influencing
our thinking; in either case, he has found a way to give us the
enlightenment we need.
Which is another way of saying, nothing is
impossible for God. Indeed, understanding that fact--and truly
appreciating it--is one of the most encouraging gestalts we can
possibly reach.
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