Sense and Sensibility

 Okay, I'm a Jane Austen appreciator. I don't want to use the word "fan" because it is short for "fanatic", and nowadays that can have some seriously negative connotations. So let's just say I appreciate her writing, and much of her nuanced literary examinations of peoples' emotions and subsequent actions within the settings of her time. 

One of her novels, "Sense and Sensibility" looks at the Dashwood sisters as they navigate the twists and turns of life and love. Really not much has changed today except for there being a lack of balls to attend, and everyone wears more casual/scruffy/gym wear clothes most of the time.

Anyway to my point. Human nature doesn't change. Civilizations rise and fall, external dress codes vary, society expectations alter through time periods, but humans are humans still.

We love, laugh, do or don't dance like someone is watching, and make the same relationship mistakes with each other throughout human history. Starting with Genesis and reading our way through the Old and then New Testament to the very end of Revelation, human behavior has not changed.

Toxic responses, selfish actions, murderous impulses, blame shifting and that is just in Genesis.

God shows us something very clearly through His Word. He shows us His love for the whole world, and He shows us His ultimate remedy to the fall of mankind and plan for salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

He also shows us, among many other things like how to actually live well and safely, that humans are humans from the beginning to the end of human time. 

We crash through the window pane of life hurting ourselves and those around us, often not realizing there is a much better way to experience life.

God would love to show us this better way, and it involves these two areas of response within us, sense and sensibility.

The word "Sense" can mean a physical ability, the five natural ways we as humans experience and interact with the world; sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

It can also mean an inner feeling, like experiencing peace or joy or sadness. It can mean to have good judgment with the phrase "common sense", or to feel or notice something such as sensing danger. 

Spending five minutes with God each day in silence can attune our physical and emotional senses. We can learn to be more aware of God's presence with us, and His guidance through the person of His Holy Spirit. 

To hear His voice is to receive wisdom that we can often not come to in our own ability. We can sense our own emotions when we are quiet too, and be able to release negative ones to God, that are weighing us down or twisting our responses to others.

There is so much here of the richness of relationship with God that He wants us to experience, but we are too often busy crashing through another window pane of life.

The word "Sensibility" means the ability to feel, react or understand deep emotions in response to positive things of life, such as an appreciation of beauty in the physical world, music, literature, art or culture. It can also mean a person's delicate feelings that can be easily hurt or offended.

God is very able to help us in both these areas too, to help us to appreciate the good aspects of life, and bring healing where we have interacted with negative aspects of life and been hurt.

God is so good. There is nothing stopping us from spending time with Him each day. 

Except ourselves.

If we need some help in the areas of "sense" or "sensibility" He is there, waiting for us to let Him respond to what we have said to Him (or want to say to Him) about all our issues of life as humans, whatever era we live in.