Serendipity or Something Else?

The following is a copy of the Thomas Question email devotional. You can subscribe to the email edition from our website and tune into our podcast.

Dr. Spence Silver was the king of glue in his time (the late 1960’s). Working as one of 3M’s storied engineers, he set about the task of finding the next great strong-bonding glue, but failed. His new acrylate adhesive was described as both “flabby and weak”. Not the most desirable adjectives in the glue business – or many others for that matter.

What happened next, however, is a matter of story telling legend. All too often failure ends in itself. An unexpected outcome occurs and we stop in our disappointment and call it a “mistake” and a “waste of time” and go “back to the drawing board”. But in this case, failure led to breakthrough. Instead of hiding his failure, Dr. Spence shared it with co-worker Arthur Fry and Post-it notes were born. Who ever would have thought that for Dr. Spence and Arthur Fry, their career’s most important moment would be embedded in a single fortunate mistake?

It’s amazing what you can find, while on your way to other things, just as long as you have an open mind and open eyes. Sometimes what you aim at is a distraction and an impossibility. Sometimes your failures are the best things that could ever happen to you if you have the courage to turn them into something else.

Specifically, it makes me feel both daunted and assured when it comes to the prospect of my own future. I feel assured because it’s encouraging to think what you can turn a failure into. At the same time, I feel daunted because I also wonder how any of us can plan for the future when some of our most important breakthroughs will be the result of some serendipitous accident.

When you add faith to the mix, however, the dynamics are changed greatly. We no longer have to trust to chance or circumstance or “serendipity”. Instead, we can hope in a “loving arrangement” of possibilities around us.
http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gifJesus says in Matthew 6:33 that we are to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness first, and then the other components of our lives will fall in line. We don’t have to hope for success or successful accidents. We can rely on the principles we choose along the way.

So I have a question for you. What if Christ embedded your life’s best outcomes on the other side of a set of moral choices? Dr. Spence and Arthur Fry found Post-it notes by accident. But what if our life’s biggest breakthroughs will come as a surprise on the other side of simply doing the “right” thing as often as we can? Who knows what life He may have in store for you as you seek to practice a life honoring others, telling the truth, finding compassion, protecting faith, all these things… We place so much emphasis on aiming at some dream dreamed – a grand destination. But maybe we ought to be aiming instead at the values we practice along the way. Just a thought.

This Sunday, we're continuing in our series on "Church Exposed". We looked last at what a church is and what a Christian is - we'll look next at what these things mean for us in particular at The Thomas Question. You can visit our website for directions or tune into the podcast through the week.

I hope to see you there and I hope you bring someone with you.

Chris

LAST SUNDAY
The shock of the cross and the invitation to live Easter today. Click here to tune into the podcast.

THIS SUNDAY
Why The Thomas Question?

BENEATH THE WORDS
The challenge has always been about meaning the stuff beneath the words. We’re seeking to build a church from the lobby out, based on community by a group of people who “mean it”. As a result, we value one step sincerely taken more than 3 dozen done in any other way.