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!
Cravings
Cravings are a part of being human. I often crave chocolate, steak, or an ice cold beer. I also crave things, especially gadgets, and I crave positions, like being a lead minister. Giving in to cravings on occasion isn’t a bad or evil thing. Always giving into them and even to the point of excusing your behavior on the basis of your craving is fueled by sin.
In the Old Testament in the book of Numbers we come face to face with what cravings can do when they consume us and turn into language that reveals a heart that not only flees God but spits in His face. It’s the language of entitlement that likes to use words like “deserve.”
The Israelites, freed from slavery, find themselves in the wilderness prior to their first encounter with the Promised Land. In seemingly a short amount of time they begin to grumble about the fact that manna is their ONLY source of nourishment.
“4Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed.5 “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted.
6 But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”” (Numbers 11)
When the Israelites long for Egypt and crave the things of their life of slavery it is always a really bad sign. God in effect gives them what they want, and in the process sends a plague along with quail and it seems to only kill those who “craved meat from Egypt” (verse 33-34).
I’ve often confused my cravings with God’s desire for me. I’ve often cried out, “What is taking so long?” I’ve often acted on cravings and excused them with “I deserve,” and today I am convicted that it is all Egypt and I am reminded, I’ve been freed from Egypt and have power over my cravings.
What is it you deserve? What cravings are you excusing? Where might you need the grace of God to redeem you and remind you that you have been made free?