Be Patient, Chew, Savor...... Fulfilled

Human beings are curious creatures.  There is an intense desire to understand the human condition, but we have a problem understanding ourselves.  What is it that makes me want to go for a jog one minute and then take a nap the next?  What is it that causes us to be so bad at diets?  All of us, if we are attentive, frequently have thoughts that leave us questioning where that came from.  It is for these reasons that I have a very limited appetite for studies that try to reduce the human condition to percentages and survey results.  These have their place, but numbers can be manipulated to portray many things, especially in an inexact science as human behavior.
My dissatisfaction for scientific study of human thought and emotion is more pronounced because I know there is a better way.  It becomes much harder to return to falsehood when you have tasted truth.  Let's assume that there is a being that knows the every hair on my head currently, George Washington's in 1776, and Jesus' in 25 AD.  It seems this being would be the only one with thorough knowledge of the human condition.  Many know where I am heading here, because Jesus is quoted in Luke 12:7, "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows".  So there we have it, if you believe the Bible is correct, there is great comfort in knowing that there is a God that fully understands this web of statistical improbabilities.  This is inconceivable, we can't even fully understand the motivations of ourselves, and we have lived with and as ourselves for many years.  The thought of us understanding another and our connection with them is unfathomable without God.
If becomes even more encouraging when we analyze John 16:13.  In this passage, Jesus is describing how the apostles will be better off without Him.  He is sending them something even better, the Holy Spirit to live within them, who is fully divine.  Verse 13 says, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come".  This is rather intense.  God has sent the Holy Spirit, fully divine, all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever present to live within us.  As we learn in John 14:16-17: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you".  Pretty remarkable.
I do not want to claim that we should discard all survey results and all psychological and sociological research, but this should be significantly secondary to scripture and prayer.  Prayer is powerful, Jesus retreated to do it often.  Scripture is powerful, Jesus and the apostles knew it well, quoting it often to rebuke, and to present Jesus' fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.  Yet the Pharisees knew the Scriptures well also, and Jesus' words for them were harsh.  Scripture alone cannot do it, approach the Scriptures with a humble heart, an open mind, and a prayerful disposition.  This process will not be instant; it isn't coffee, a google search, or an iPhone.  Be patient, get somewhere quiet, chew on the Scriptures, and savor them.  The gratification may not be immediate; sometimes it will, but many aspects of Christianity cannot be embraced without deferring gratification until later.  Be patient, and watch your time with God's Word become the best part of your day.