The Shack Chapters 9-10

A fractal is a shape that looks like a mess, but has a very logical pattern.  When Mack is lead into the garden of his heart, all he can make out is a mess.  The author spend a few pages defending the mess as a fractal.  This point is an important one for those of us who can’t seem to put everything together in life.  No matter how we look on the outside, our inside is a mess.  That’s not all bad.  Remember that it is a lie to ever think we can get control of our lives.  In fact, I would guess that when you feel the most – in control, that is when God will allow something or someone to come into your life that will cause you to lose control.  Remember God’s goal is to keep us close, not to keep us happy.  Trying to seek happiness in this veil of tears is a losing battle.  God has something far better in mind when we reach heaven.

God has something very important planned for Mack as the story progresses, but before I leave you with the Bible class consider walking on water.  Does that sound ridiculous, impossible to you?  I submit to you that walking on water isn’t difficult at all because the action depends completely on God.  We cannot fail.  In walking on water Jesus was asking Mack to trust him, to take him at his word.  Mack struggles to do this, but consider how we act.  To illustrate this point we won’t be walking on water, but ice.

Growing up in the frozen tundra of Minnesota I was taught that ice is never safe.  It’s simply too difficult to know how thick the ice is.  That being said there are small cities that pop up every winter on some northern lakes, complete with pickup trucks buildings warmed by heaters!  Let’s compare ice to faith in our God.  Do we spread ourselves out on the ice and slowly crawl through life unsure if we will be let down – ice is never safe!  That sounds like good advice, but you do realize that you might get run over by the tank that just passed you barreling on the same sheet of ice.  God’s promises are infinitely thick and will never let us down.

Watch now to hear more about the organized mess in your soul and the challenges of walking on water.  Should you take off your shoes?

Please click HERE to view the Bible class slides.