I am fascinated when I see starlings fly in murmuration or in harmony with one another. Together, blackbirds abruptly fly to a tree, then snappishly fly to the water or to feed on the ground. I’m also fascinated by TV shows about synchronized fish movements and small animals working together.
In nature, we call what drives these behaviors instinct. Sometimes insects, birds, or animals seem to go solo, but those may show a voluntary response. Even though people follow trends, doing so is a choice they make, not instinct. The mystery to me is, why didn’t God create humans to respond as instinctively as other forms of His creation? Humanity responds more to their five senses. Amidst that, some humans are more sensitive to their intuitive gifting. An exceptional athlete in a contest seems to know how to respond more effectively in the game they play. Math brains, music fanatics, philosophers, medical whizzes and mechanics outshine the rest. What gives them the edge over others in their field? Could it be they are inadvertently following their intuition more than others?
God implanted animals with an instinct to move, selectively mate, survive, etc., while God gave humans an intuition to thrive. Growing up, we are encouraged to respond to our five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) rather than our spirit. We get our intuition and emotions mixed up and emotions are seriously undependable.
Jesus taught His followers to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33, ESV). Could it be that He knew those who became His apprentices would soon develop their intuitive gifting? Somehow, the humanity of Jesus learned to follow whatever His Heavenly Father said or did. (John 5:19, 30). It may have been He learned to carefully follow His intuition (spirit) through things he suffered growing up. (Hebrews 5:8). Whatever the case, when under pressure from the Scribes Jesus immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit [intuition] that they thus the [scribes] questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts” (Mark 2:8, ESV)? We marvel at the power and words Jesus spoke and deeds leading us to see his deity instead of his humanity. Could it be that Jesus’ ability to say and do remarkable things was only because He depended on His inner intuition or spirit? If we strive to be His apprentice, we won’t be naïve about our sixth sense—intuition — and we will learn not to depend just on words or our five senses. If all believers were more in touch with their intuition, I believe we could experience a similar oneness to what we can see among birds, fish, etc. Jesus did pray that His disciples would be one as He and His Father are one. (John 17:11)
Some suppose I am wiser than I really am. I attribute whatever wisdom they see to times when I am relying more on my gut than my brain or feelings. I’ve found the more intimate I become with Christ, the more naturally I see and hear His still small voice leading or speaking through me. For me, I see a strong correlation between being more spirit conscious and spiritual maturity. The more we become like Jesus, the more we react and think like Him.
Can you differentiate between what your mind and emotions tell you and God’s whisperings? If not, what can you do to be more like Jesus in that area of your life? What next steps could you take to come closer to being like Him? I like how the Message translates this goal; we work to train other believers until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ (Ephesians 4:13, MSG).