God is like Pi (π)…

Today is Pi Day. For those of you who don’t know what that is, or even what the point of it is, let me explain. Today, March 14th, also known as 3/14, is Pi Day, simply because of the numbers 3.14 the equivalent value for Pi. It is also Albert Einstein’s birthday. Pi Day is observed by math junkies everywhere because of the importance of Pi in life all around us. I have celebrated in the festivities for several years now. So, in observance of Pi Day…

One day some friendsand I were talking about how difficult it can be for an unbeliever to understand how, with all that happens in this life, there could be a God that loves us. After all, if he loved us, why would he allow for such things to happen as sickness, famine, natural disasters, murder, and trouble with the economy, to name a few. We talked about how, just as with Job, we can do all the right things for all the right reasons, and still there are times that we have to go through very difficult, trying and sorrowful times. We were talking about how God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. After our discussion, I continued to chew on those thoughts, and being the math geek that I am, I began to realize how much God is like Pi!

For those of you who aren’t very familiar with Pi, or π, it is a wonderful number! π ≈ 3.14159265359… or 3.14 as we learn in school. Perhaps the most elementary uses of π are in the area and circumference of circles. While it is used in math classes everywhere, it is not a new discovery. Pi was discovered as many as 4000 years ago. Many different civilizations were intrigued with the number that would later (in the 1700s) become known as π. For centuries, men have been intrigued with it, to the point of obsession. Over 1 trillion digits have been computed, but still the number continues! So here’s a math lesson for you!

Pi is one of the most famous of irrational numbers. We call it irrational because it cannot be written as a fraction. Now in human terms, rational is what “makes sense” based on facts, expectations or logic. So irrational is what cannot be explained by reason or understanding. That is exactly like God. Because His ways are not our ways, we cannot logically understand His plan or His motives. To us, He often appears to be very irrational, but we must remember: “’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord; ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.’” When a number is irrational, it never repeats and never ends. Just like God. He was and is and is to come…!

Pi is also transcendental. I know that sounds sort of “new age”, but remember, we’re talking math here! A transcendental number is a number to which “no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) can be equal to its value (thank you wikipedia!).” That is how God is! No matter how hard we try, no thing, no person, no idea, no religion, no power, no force, nothing in all of creation, can be equal to His value! He is God, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present. He has no roots! Just as men have been intrigued with Pi and trying to understand it, so is mankind intrigued with discovering the “higher power” or “force” or “being” that is God!

Pi is at work in everything around us, from nature to art to architecture to statistics to geometry and beyond. So is its Creator! It isn’t by chance that everything works together in patterns and sequences. God is a God of order, though we don’t always understand it at the time. He seeks to involve us in His work. He wants to take us to another level; to broaden our perspective; to increase our knowledge of Him; for us to be obsessed with Him. Many people give their lives to the work of Pi, but we have the opportunity to give our lives to the ultimate irrational, transcendental, “constant” of all times… Life spent with Him is much more fulfilling than that of a silly old number!

Failure is an option...

Sometimes, life is hard. Okay...lots of times, life is hard. The hardest times, however are those times when you have to learn those lessons. You know, the ones that you can't seem to learn the first, second or even third time? It seems the more you try to figure things out, the more of a mess you get yourself into... Then you realize that the lesson you needed to learn really wasn't a hard lesson. In fact, it's likely one that you had to learn back in elementary school. Or, like most students, you were supposed to have learned it in elementary school, but unfortunately the lesson didn't stick. So once again, here it is!

I have discovered a lesson that I have needed much remedial work on. It is that I am not perfect, will never be perfect and in trying to be perfect, I have only made myself even more imperfect.

It doesn't seem like a hard lesson. I always tell people that it's okay if you don't get everything right; what matters most is that you learned in the process. But so many times, I don't carry that out. Sometimes, it frustrates me that we live in such a civilized, well-educated place. Don't get me wrong...I am thankful for all of the opportunities and provisions that I have been given. However, I have seen in my life, and in the lives of people all around me, that as a result, we have to always keep striving for more and more, and if you don't reach 100%, it's not good enough. How many times have I told myself, "It's not good enough" or even worse, "I'm not good enough?" Where has it gotten me?

I am reminded of a passage that has always been near to my heart, but today, I see it in a little different light. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul writes:

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these
surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a
messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take
it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for
Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.

In our quest for perfection, we become independent of the one thing upon which our lives rest. The one thing that we cannot live without. The one thing that frees us from every chain that binds us. In our own independence, we "lose" the Grace of God. Now, don't misunderstand me. We don't really lose it, but on our own, we decide that it isn't enough, that we can make it on our own, that we have enough gumption on our own to get where we need to be; in effect we lose (or misplace) what was given to us when we were but children in Christ.

How much more I can identify with the prodigal son as I think about this... He was one who thought he could make it on his own, and didn't need Dad's help. He could pull it off, just give him the opportunity. And it seems like our world doesn't make it any easier. To admit that you have made a mistake is viewed as failure. Yet, in our inability to admit, we have failed even more. Some of the most revered people in our history failed miserably, yet in their failure, they were able to acheive true success. Moses failed as the Prince of Egypt, only to deliver the very people he ruled over from bondage. David failed in his marriage purity, committed murder and even lied, yet he was "a man after God's own heart." Peter denied Jesus three times, after saying he would never do such a thing, but would die for Christ; he became a rock that Christ could build His church on, spreading the gospel to many, and did in fact die on a cross for Christ's sake. Paul persecuted Christians for the "good of the church", but at His encounter with the Lord, he changed the world for Christ as well. And there are so many more...

Those are the people in whose steps I want to follow. I want to be a "little Christ". I want to be one that can change my world with the life that I live, and not have to worry about being perfect, or living up to some "standard", spoken or unspoken. Let's face it...I am completely human. Surprised? That means I am bound to make mistakes and, sometimes, screw up royally! I have to be okay with that, because it is during those times that I can look up to the Father, allow Him to help me up, dust off my knees, doctor my wounds, and help me to be stronger and more like who He wants me to be through the lesson(s) learned

So from now on...

My name is Stacey, and I'm a failure...

(but I am growing to be more like Him!)