Brain Teasers: Jennifer Miller

I have never ever enjoyed brain teasers.  You can call them brain games or mental challenges but whatever two word-pairing you derive will simply equal awfulness to me.  I am simply not patient enough, nor smart enough, and don’t find any enjoyment from teasing my brain.  My brain works hard enough to just function…let’s leave the teasing to a fine tooth comb and some aqua net.

My dad; however, loves brain teasers.  Some fathers receive ties on Father’s Day…nope, my dad wants brain teasers.  He loves them... get the ring off the two horse shoes – done; jump all those little golf tees on the triangular base and only leave one – no problem; figure out who sat next to whom on five different trains arriving in 13 different countries at 52 different times – solved and solved.  A vivid early childhood memory I have is my Dad receiving a new-fandangled toy:  The Rubik’s Cube.  Ever the thinker and problem solver that he was, he sat down with a piece of paper and began to work out equations on how to solve this cubed puzzle.  After a few weeks he was able to solve it…I could twist and turn to my heart’s content and hand it to him and he could pattern logic his way to get all those colored squares back together again.  Fabulous!  One afternoon, I found myself alone with The Rubik’s Cube. I happily did some twisting and turning in an effort to try and line up the colors.  I thought I could get them all straight but it seemed the more I turned the more jumbled things got. I had no plan or logic – I just twisted. I couldn’t figure it out but I was not going to let this toy get the best of me.  After a good effort (which probably equated to 2 total minutes) I dug my fingernail underneath one of those colored stickers and low and behold it peeled right off.  Fantastic!  I set out and pulled off each and every sticker and was careful not to lose any.  I re-pressed and re-sealed each sticker into their rightful blocks of color.  I didn’t put any thought as to where the colors should go…just that the colors should fill a side.  I wasn’t trying to make red next to yellow or blue next to green…I just slapped the stickers on there.  When my dad got home I proudly plopped it into his hand and pronounced that I had solved it.  He didn’t notice the altered cube…at first.  In fact, I had done quite a good job at reattaching all those stickers.  The problem came when he tried to solve the puzzle after it was mixed up again.  He had a set of equations and turns that matched the original color scheme.  Unfortunately, where the colors were placed mattered, and although visually looking correct, my deception was found out because it was not the exact replica that my father was used to working with. It was clear that I had messed with the original design of the toy and compromised the integrity of the game.  I am not sure what my consequence was…but I am certain it was not as harsh as it should have been. 

Much to my father’s dismay, I think we have reached the shallow end of the gene pool for solving brain teasers starting with my generation.  Unfortunately, my children don’t seem to be fairing much better with them.  I remember when they were little introducing them to the wonderfulness that was the “20 questions” game.  We were waiting in a doctor’s office far past humanly possible and insanity was setting in.  I brilliantly thought a game of 20 questions would be just what we needed to pass the time.  Here is the scenario as it played out each.and.every.time.

Me:  (after explaining all the rules) “ok I have thought of something” (a dog)

Child one:  is it a basketball?

Me: ummm…no – and you should start with something more general like “is it a person place or thing?”

Child two:  is it a person place or thing?

Me:  it is a thing

Child one:  is it my foot?

Me: no…and wow that is specific.  Again – think of categories or bigger broader groups of items

Child two:  is it Dad?

Me: no – that is a person…I said it was a thing

Child one: is it Q-tip?

This would continue with each child naming random specific things that came to mind until I just gave up and finally this happened:

Child one:  is it a cup?

Me:  yep – you got it…I was thinking of a cup.

See what I did there….I just made a lie the truth.  And crazily enough they bought it and were extremely satisfied with themselves for guessing the right object and we celebrated by them wanting to play another round.  Sigh …serenity now.

Despite my dislike for brain teasers, I can’t seem to get away from them.  I encounter them every day.  Not The Rubik’s Cube or 20 questions variety of brain teasers… but a different kind of brain game: recognizing the twists of truth and lies from Satan.  He packages a thought in my brain and makes it so palatable that I buy into it and believe a lie as the truth. It is who he is – and he is good at messing with my brain.    If I don’t examine the words he whispers against the truth of what my Heavenly Father has said in scripture, I will not be able to clearly see that what Satan is telling me is not an exact replica of what is found in scripture. 

… the lie of being “less than”

… the lie of thinking that my sin is not so bad

… the lie of not seeing my priorities as misaligned

Thankfully I have a model in the life of Jesus as what to do when I encounter these brain teasers. 

Mark 4:3-11

“The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Each and every time Satan uses a lie … twisted truth to tempt Jesus.  Jesus’ example to us is profound.  He does not rely on his feelings or even on what he thinks – He relies on what he KNOWS.  His response is always examining what was said against scripture to test its truth.  When what Satan said was found as a lie, Jesus responded by quoting scripture.  He knew the scriptures well and had them memorized.  He knew these were brain teasers – that what Satan offered was not truth - and our Lord called Satan out on it. 

When I find myself staring into the face of a “brain teaser” from Satan, my prayer is that I will recognize it as a lie and search out the truth.  While I may not be able to have scripture “at the ready” for every scenario like Jesus did – I pray that I would seek it out…write it out…and say it out loud to combat the lies.  Here are some examples of the brain teasers that I have encountered recently:

Satan came to me and whispered, “Jesus died for you…But I’m not sure why because you are severely blowing this whole parenting, wife, friend thing.  With your issues it is no wonder you feel alone” But I said to him, “The Lord my God is with me, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He takes great delight in me; in His love He will no longer rebuke me, but will rejoice over me with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).  “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within me, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6)    

Then the devil took me to my sin and said, “this is not so bad…you lied because you wanted to keep people happy and Jesus wants you to keep the peace and unity in the body of Christ”.  But Jennifer said “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” (Proverbs 12:22)  

The tempter came to her and said, “It’s ok that you haven’t spent time with God this week – He will understand… You are serving on church committees and doing good things for your family.” But Jennifer answered, “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Proverbs 3:6

As you start your day, consider this prayer:

Lord, even before I get out of bed, I acknowledge that Satan is waiting to throw some brain teasers into my day.  Help me see truth today – I want to walk in that truth.  Help me to plainly see lies and use scripture to combat those lies.  Your word is ever true and unfailing.     

I would love to hear from you…what are some brain teasers you encounter? What truth from scripture do you use to shine truth into it?