Misconceptions

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I've always thought of misconceptions as something negative, but over the past few weeks I have been learning about how we can use misconceptions to our advantage, as a stepping stone leading to better understanding. For example, I teach maths to teenagers, which is of course, very challenging because maths is not exactly everyone's favourite subject in school. One of the main reasons for that is because there are so many misconceptions on the understanding of maths and how it works. These misconceptions then become stumbling blocks when students are trying to build on their understanding. No one likes to have misconceptions or to admit that they have misconceptions.

I really had to think twice before I wrote this post because I wasn't sure whether I was comfortable talking about my misconception.I was reading 1 Chronicles 21, which of course, I would advise everyone to read. It talks of David who out of pride decides to do a census and God was not pleased with him. God sent  a message through Gad and asked David to choose one of three consequences of his actions. 

1. Three years of famine.
2. Three months to be destroyed by his enemies.
3. Three days of the sword of the Lord.

As soon as I read this part I had the though in my head, that if it was me, number three was out of the window. I felt like that would be the worst thing that I could choose. Three days of God's anger just seemed like the worst thing that could happen even if it was only for three days! What was going through my head was who knows what the ALMIGHTY God would have in store for you. So for me the choice was really between the first two options. To my surprise, David straight away chose option 3 stating in verse 13, "Let me fall into the hands of the Lord for His mercy is very great. but let me not fall into human hands." 

Reading the rest of the chapter, you see the beauty of God's mercy unfolding. What stuck out to me was verse 13, because I then started asking myself, why did I have such fear in me to make me want to choose the first few options. That fear that I have could be holding me back from a lot of blessings from God. It could be standing in the way of my relationship with God growing. It could be stopping me from experiencing God in a way that I never have before. Why is it that the first thing I thought of was the wrath of God and not the preference of his mercies compared to those of human hands.

This was another piece of the puzzle showing why God described David as a man after His own heart. Despite all the mistakes He made, David always trusted in God's mercy and grace. He was never fearful to be in the presence of God, in fact he preferred to be in the presence of God. 

My prayer is that I open up to experience God in a way that releases all my fears and helps me to trust Him in all my ways.