Convergence by Mark Pfeifer

What do Bilbo Baggins, Bruce Wayne and John McClane have in common?

 CONVERGENCE!

 Most adventure stories share the same plot.  A perfectly normal person living a perfectly normal life gets caught up in a series of unforeseen events that leads them on an unexpected journey. 

 Bilbo Baggins just wanted to hang out in his hollowed-out tree.  Same with his nephew Frodo.  Peter Parker just wanted to visit a science exhibit.  Bruce Wayne was just wanted to see a show with his parents.  John McClane was just wanted to go to a Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza (10 points for whoever gets that one right without Googling it!).

Convergence describes that moment when seemingly unrelated events come together to form a single opportunity for someone to be promoted.  It looks a lot like chaos - but contains the necessary potential for improvement.  It’s God’s way of reordering our lives.  Old things are blown apart and new things emerge.  We feel a lot like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, carried away by the power of converging winds into another world. 

 But we do have a choice in the matter!                                         

 We can avoid the challenge altogether and remain on a track that will slowly deteriorate into on really wishful thinking and regretful memories.  We can protect and defend our previous achievements and live the rest of our lives in a house of cut-n-paste reminiscence from glory days gone by…

 OR

…like the mythical Phoenix rising from the ashes, we can embrace the temporary discomfort and chaos of God’s reordering process and move into something better.

 C’mon Bilbo!  Convergence has come!  Get out of your comfort zone!

 Convergence is that moment where we face the decision to go on a journey that will shape and fashion the rest of our lives.  The disciples faced it when Jesus called them to follow Him.  Barnabas faced it when he decided to sell his property and give the proceeds to the church.  Timothy faced it when Paul invited him to join the team.   

 Educators call it the Zone of Proximal Development.  It’s that place on the edge where known information converges with unknown information.  It’s the optimal learning environment where students stand on the peaks of old information to see clearly and be intrigued by the possibility of learning something new in the distance. 

Consider the parent standing just beyond the reach of their child enticing them to take a few more steps.  That’s the Zone of Proximal Development.  It’s found in the baby talk we grandparents use to coax our grandchildren to babble a few words just beyond their level of comprehension.  It pulls them forward into an unfamiliar world where something better and higher awaits.  In order to achieve it, they will have to risk taking a few new steps and a speaking few new words in the chaos where the familiar and unfamiliar converge.

 Convergence is God’s process of updating our wineskins.  Jesus spoke about the need to change wineskins before new wine can be poured out.  This process is usually messy and chaotic.  It involves moments when old wineskins must go, and new wineskins must be accepted.  Being poured from familiar to unfamiliar can be uncomfortable.  Entering into this vortex is often painful and frustrating.  Many people abandon the process midstream to their ultimate peril and regret.  But for those willing to embrace the challenge, a new level of usefulness awaits.   

Convergence also involves people.  Some people are just not willing to risk moving forward with you into the chaotic unknown.  But don’t get frustrated!  There are new people who will converge on your path when you need them.  God will bring people to help you navigate this difficult expedition. 

 Think of Abraham meeting Melchizedek and how significant that relationship was in Abraham’s journey.  How about David and Jonathon?  What about Ruth meeting Boaz?  Consider Peter when Jesus asked him to use his boat and then told him to go back out on the sea and let down his nets.  This moment of convergence not only shifted Peter from one season into another but in many ways changed the world! 

Convergence isn’t easy.  We cannot predict the results of embracing a whirlwind of challenging events, entering willingly into a season of chaotic reconstruction, accepting new relationships, allowing old things to pass away and new thing to be birthed.  But without these moments in life, when it seems like everything is falling apart, we will never experience the empowered resurrection our world so desperately needs. 

Think of Joseph embracing his circumstances after being sold out by his brothers and then being falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife.  It saved an entire nation!  Think of Christ submitting to the Father’s plan in the Garden of Gethsemane that included the pain of the cross.  It saved an entire world!

 The loss you may be experiencing right now could be the beginning of the breakthrough you’ve been praying for!  Perhaps convergence has begun.  A series of unforeseen circumstances has converged in your life, created a destructive wind that seems to threaten your very existence.  During this time, people have left, and chaos has ensued. 

 Now you have a choice.  Either stay in your comfort zone and try to hold onto your old way of life or embrace the chaos of this new season and allow God to reconstruct things at a higher level.  It will be painful.  It will take time.  You will have a few restless nights.  But adventure and promotion await the person who is willing to keep their cool, maintain a good attitude and move courageously onward. 

 Convergence in this season means promotion in the next!

 This is precisely what God did with 120 people in Acts 2:1.

They were the right people - at the right time - doing the right thing - in the right place -

with the right attitude.  Convergence! 

 © 2020 Mark Pfeifer