{"id":1960,"date":"2025-12-29T23:09:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2025-12-29T23:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:09:18","slug":"another-way-of-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/2025\/12\/29\/another-way-of-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Way of Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reading<\/strong>: Isaiah 43\u201344; Psalm 109<br><strong>Key Verse<\/strong>: Isaiah 43:19 \u2014 \u201cFor I am about to do something new\u2026 I will make a pathway through the wilderness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Personal Reflection<\/strong><br>Isaiah 44 exposes the absurdity of idol\u2011making\u2014burning half a block of wood for fire and bowing to the rest. It\u2019s easy to think, \u201cHow foolish!\u201d Yet we often do the same. We cling to our own ideas, our own plans, our own limited perspective. Our minds close, and we cannot see the foolishness of our thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As leaders, this is especially dangerous. We can become rigid, convinced our way is the only way. Or we can fail to make a decision out of fear, not able to see any good outcome. Those we lead can do the same\u2014resisting guidance, defending their own vision, or reacting out of fear. In these moments, I hear the words of one of our teachers from missions training, \u201cMay I suggest another way of thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Scripture Insight<\/strong><br>God confronts our self\u2011made thinking with His sovereignty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cI made you\u2026 I will not forget you.\u201d (Isaiah 44:21\u201322)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cI am the LORD, who made all things.\u201d (Isaiah 44:24)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We stare at our own \u201ccreations,\u201d ideas, vision, but God says, \u201cI am doing something new.\u201d He creates rivers in wastelands and pathways in wilderness (Isaiah 43:19\u201320). This is what He wants to do in our minds\u2014new pathways, new clarity, new perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Job experienced a new vision threw being stretched: \u201cI had only heard about you\u2026 now I have seen you.\u201d (Job 42:5\u20136)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Peter declares, \u201cthere is wonderful joy ahead,\u201d through the refining fire. Peter assures us that the stretch will produces genuine faith (1 Peter 1:6\u20137).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At times, leaders experience the words of the Psalmist:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cThey repay evil for good\u2026 even as I am praying for them.\u201d (Psalm 109:3\u20135)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, when we embrace the stretch, and believe as David did, that even these come from the hand of God, we CAN respond with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cLet them curse\u2026 but you will bless me\u2026 I will go right on rejoicing!\u201d (Psalm 109:26\u201331)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cI will give repeated thanks, praising him to everyone!\u201d (Psalm 109:30)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Application<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ask God to expose rigid or self\u2011made thinking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invite Him to create \u201cnew pathways\u201d in your mind that are able to explore other ways of thinking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lead courageously even when decisions bring resistance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose rejoicing over resentment, trusting God\u2019s refining work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prayer<\/strong><br>Father, open my eyes to see where my thinking has grown narrow. Create new pathways in my mind and lead me into Your perspective. Give me courage to lead wisely, humbly, and joyfully\u2014even when it brings resistance. Do something new in me, Lord. I am listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading: Isaiah 43\u201344; Psalm 109Key Verse: Isaiah 43:19 \u2014 \u201cFor I am about to do something new\u2026 I will make a pathway through the wilderness.\u201d Personal ReflectionIsaiah 44 exposes the absurdity of idol\u2011making\u2014burning half a block of wood for fire and bowing to the rest. It\u2019s easy to think, \u201cHow foolish!\u201d Yet we often do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[130594],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-the-word-for-the-day","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}