Obvious Choices
“So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD.” Joshua 9:14
The choice seemed obvious to Joshua and the Israelites. From the looks of things these people weren’t a threat and what they were offering sounded pretty good – a lifetime of servitude and no war. What they failed to recognize is that man’s heart is wicked and unless one is mastered by God then deception must always be suspected. The vow the Israelites make with the Gibeonites results in war anyway (see Joshua 10)
I wish I could say I consult with the Lord about decisions, but the reality is I more often pray after the decision has already been made seeking God’s grace and rescue from consequences I could not foresee.
As our family swelled to eight we needed a new dining table if we were going to eat as a family. We looked everywhere, or so we thought. We just happened into a furniture store that will remain nameless where we thought we had found the solution. The choice seemed obvious. The result was disastrous and eventually evolved into my first use of the Better Business Bureau, which worked just like it should have. A solution was reached almost nine months later, only a month after involving the BBB. It consumed time we didn’t have, and resulted in a loss of peace every time we sat down to eat at the defective table. After reading this verse I wonder if the Lord might have steered us away from that choice.
Here’s the reality about what I believe or don’t believe:
1. I really don’t believe God will actually communicate with me about where I should go for lunch, whether or not I should buy a car, or do business with a particular furniture store, or how I should organize my calendar.
2. Nor do I believe that any of those small choices may have really big consequences.
3. Lastly, because my tendency is to want to be satisfied immediately I will refuse to allow my wants to be suppressed, and typically I know that God almost always suppresses my wants. So, including Him in decisions regarding my wants will result in a struggle for self discipline that I would rather ignore. I almost always will be led to suspend my satisfaction in the wake of God’s direction.
What do you really believe?
Listening to shame
Brene’ Brown does it again, but this time she’s on the big stage. Her follow up to her TEDx talk on vulnerability is once again a surgically precise analysis of what haunts the human heart. While she does not wax-theological it is not difficult for those of us who are determined to free the world from the power and curse of sin to see the connection. Shame is sin’s executioner that kills the soul slowly. When Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead He not only defeated death and sin, but He freed us from the executioner’s grasp.
To quote Brennan Manning, “God loves you as you are, not as you should be.”
I am a victim and an assailant. I have been abused and have been the abuser. I have been lied to and I have been the liar. On one hand I can point out the road you should travel and on the other hand I can choose a different road. I would rather hide than be seen, and yet wish to be known and loved. Many come to ask for my advice, and I am often the last one to take it.
The good news is that Jesus died for me anyway.
He died for you anyway.
We no longer must die at the hand of Sin’s executioner, but can live abundantly joyful even in the face of death.
Thanks be to God!
God as Protector
“9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” Numbers 14
How often do you fail to see God as your protector?
I am not sure if I have ever seen God as my protector. I’ve seen Him as my judge. I’ve seen Him as my Redeemer. I’ve seen Him as my father, but never as my protector.
I wonder if that is why it is often hard for me to venture into the unknown. I wonder if that is why I am unable to take financial risk. I wonder if that is why I’ve never found a church to serve as their leader.
This pathway of excruciating vulnerability that Jesus calls us to follow does not go unprotected. That’s good news, isn’t it?