Outside the Box: Defying Status Quo

How do you think outside the box when there does not exist a box in the first place? How do you imagine something that has never existed before? When I am asked to think outside the box, I immediately consider a picture of imaginary boundaries around a 6-sided object which I need to set aside in my mind’s eye to consider new perspectives. This box could be past experiences or circumstances but wait, what happens when there is no box. What guides your thought process? What do you do?

Sometimes, life throws us rare curve balls but I have observed that these may be pointers to God calling us to leave the shores and step into the deep. The bible is replete with disruptive, unconventional encounters of God with men and today I will be sharing a few lessons from them.

Sometime in the 1^st century BC (see Luke 1), an old Jewish priest, Zechariah and his wife – Elizabeth had no children possibly due to obstetric issues. One day, while Zechariah was serving in the temple, angel Gabriel appeared to him (God shows up in unexpected places, you can check out my article – ‘God is in the details’. 

 

The angel informed him they would have a son and he was to be named – John. Some interesting conversation ensued, and Zechariah was dumb for nine months. Fast forward to christening day, people asked the parents for the name of this beautiful baby and they said – John and guess what? In Luke 1:61 (KJV), “…and they said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is called by that name”. The first day I saw this, I flipped! Must someone else have borne the name before? Must it be in the family lineage? And then I pinched myself, how many times have we refused the new because it was unfamiliar, uncharted territory? No one has done it. Who are you to dare attempt it? And then, you silence God and many years down the line, you start advising your younger self – “don’t listen to peer pressure”, “obey God”, “you only live once”, etc. I am sure you are aware of men and women in modern history who dared take steps on roads never travelled.

Let’s flip the script, what if Zechariah lacked courage, gave into peer pressure and named his son after the ‘familiar’? Only God knows what the implications of that would have been. Another beautiful example was the conversation between big brother Eliab and lastborn David at the battlefield. David had arrived to serve his brothers when Eliab accosted him (1 Sam. 17:28 NLT) saying “what are you doing around here anyway, he demanded. What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” Ewoo! I was a little surprised, this outburst because David was asking questions about defeating Goliath. As far as Eliab was concerned, this was uncharted territory and who was David to dare dream of this kind of stuff. This was a pull to maintain status quo, but thank God, David was sensitive to obey the call on the inside and ignore the distraction no matter how legit it seemed.

Listen, you don’t need permission to obey God, to evolve, to become. Ignore the distraction, like we say (las, las…) they will adjust and if they don’t, their headache.

 

People may NEVER give you permission to innovate, to be disruptive, to obey God. Seize the moment, there may be no existing box, you either create a new one or maintain status quo. Choose wisely.

 

The end