The Blessings that Were Not

It has been my routine for years to start in Genesis, work my way through the Bible, then go back to the start. When I arrived at Dr. Luke's book, I camped out for so long that all the other books seemed to fade. I'm still in Luke, but I've recently decided to return to the straight-through work, too.

Today, I came to the story in Genesis 12 about Abram's journey. You know this story, but for a quick review Abram and his wife Sarai were living in Haram. Abram was a young seventy-five years old, and up for adventure. God told him to go on a journey to a new place.

I'm doubtful I'd have gone on this journey, but Abram was made of better stuff than me. He loaded up everything he owned and all his servants and livestock and headed out.

"Where are we going?" Sarai probably asked.

"I don't know, but God will tell us when we get there," her husband likely reassured her.

This seems a wild way to make a move, but Abram and Sarai went. The only assurance they had was the word of God that there was, indeed, a destination at the end of the journey.

Off they went. The journey was smooth at the start. They had lovely mountaintop worship time. Plenty of food and water. On the way to the Negev, they encountered serious trouble.

Abram and Sarai (and all their servants) encountered a famine. Famine is not the same as a crop failure. Famine is the severe scarcity of food that comes after widespread crop failure. If it had just been Abram, perhaps he would have tried to scrounge enough to get by. Abram, however, was responsible for feeding more mouths than his own. 

Abram did what most of us would do. He did a little research, found that food was available in Egypt, and headed to Egypt for a little sojourn. It probably seemed like a perfectly sensible approach. He could resume his journey when the famine was over.

After he arrived in Egypt, he prospered. We might see the increase in livestock and prosperity and say, "Look how God has blessed Abram in Egypt. It was a good thing he's done." 

We would be wrong. It was not God's blessing at all.

God didn't tell Abram to stop in Egypt. God told him to keep moving.

Abram appeared to prosper but Sarai was placed in grave danger and the house of Pharaoh encountered severe plagues because of Abram's decision. 

When Jesus said that a man's life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions, this is one of the situations to which he was referring. Disobedience to God can be accompanied by wealth, but wealth and the blessing of God are not always synonymous. 

It is far better to encounter a severe famine than disobey God to avoid the physical famine and end up with famine of the soul. Hard times are just that. Hard. When they are a part of the journey of obedience, however, God is there. His promises hold true. He will provide. 

When our journey of obedience leads us to a time of hardship, it is critical that we persevere, for God will lead us through it. He will bless us in it, but it may not look like blessing to the rest of the world.

Let us hold on to the promises God has given. Let us take our eyes off the world's accumulation of stuff and recognize that the blessings of God are sometimes intangible, but no less real than a pile of silver and gold.

The Apostle Peter understood this truth. He encountered a lame man and said powerful words. "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - walk!" And the lame man walked. (Acts 3:6 nasb)

When we have Jesus, we have more than enough. 

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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: The Grateful Heart: Predawn Stillness, The Grateful Heart: Orchestration of God, The Grateful Heart: Avoiding Distraction, Maggie: Eye Protection, Maggie: Wanting Eye Drops, and Grateful Heart: Superheroes and Missions Conference.

The most read posts of the past week: The Grateful Heart: Orchestration of God

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#blessings #JesusChrist #famine #journeyofobedience

Defining moments

Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.' (Luke 11:47-51 NASB)

The section of Scripture today is a harsh denunciation of the scribes (lawyers) and their forefathers concerning their treatment of God's witnesses or prophets, as well as a prophetic word against them. The scribes were quick to enshrine the tombs of dead prophets, even though it was their forefathers who had killed the prophets. The honor they gave to the prophets was an honor in name only, however. 

From the beginning of time, God has sent His prophets to deliver His truth, knowing that the world would kill some and persecute others. Very few people would hear and obey the prophets. Even though His servants were treated shamefully, God continued to send people to deliver His Word and His warnings to a perishing world.

For a prophet, especially one willing to give his life for the Word of God, honor is not to be found in brick and mortar. To honor one committed to the Word of God, one has simply to obey the Word. "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." (3 John 1:4 NASB) The scribes' forefathers not only refused to obey the word of the Lord as given by the prophets, but also rejected the prophets, persecuted them, and even killed them. 

Jesus said that, although the scribes made a show of honoring the ancient prophets by building tombs (or mausoleums), they were no more committed to honoring the Word of God delivered by the prophets than their fathers had been. 

Jesus knew this to be true because of how they treated Him. He was God made flesh and dwelling among us, the beloved of the Father, sent for the redemption of the world. Despite His divinity and the truth He taught, Jesus was rejected by the ones who should have recognized Him, and He still is.

Even the scribe and Pharisees did not yet know that this was a prophetic word. Jesus knew that these men would be as faithless as their forefathers. Before the day was over, these men who took such offense against Jesus' words would be plotting to do exactly what their fathers had done to the prophets. Those plots would expand and deteriorate into murder before they were done.

What started as a luncheon and an opportunity to question the teacher in private was actually a defining moment for the scribes and Pharisees present that day. Jesus spoke truth to them. He knew their hearts and He told them what lay hidden within. They had the opportunity to accept truth or reject it, and they chose to reject it.

In rejecting His truth, they rejected Him and it put them on a path that led to destruction. These men would eventually kill Jesus and, in the murdering, would destroy their souls. 

Those defining moments come to us on a daily basis. We have opportunities to obey the Words of Christ every single day. Every obedience leads us closer to Him. Every act of rebellion leads us farther away. 

The problem I have is in recognizing my own rebellion. The Scribes viewed their interaction with Jesus as an argument. They simply disagreed. The problem was that they were disagreeing with God Himself. Sometimes, I have that problem. Maybe you do, too. Of course I don't call it an argument with God. I call it being practical.

I know that there are people in dire need in this world, yet those needs go unmet. I could do more, but I do not, even though God has called me to love my neighbor as myself. It seems like I'm being practical. There's only so much I can do, right? The problem is that I can do more, but I call doing a little enough. More requires sacrifice on my part, and who wants to do that? Apparently, not me. The closer I look at it, the more it looks like disobedience and it brings me to a decision point. Will I sacrifice to obey Christ or not?  

Every day, we encounter those decision points that are opportunities to draw closer to Christ by obedience or farther away by disobedience. Which will it be? Will we call doing a little enough? Maybe so, but will Christ be satisfied? The One who gave His all for a sin-riddled world expects no less from us. Decision points are no less than tiny defining moments that lead us where we will go. Let's be sure our decisions are ones that direct us to the life Christ died to give.

Lessons from the Battlefield, part 5: Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26:1-23

 

Uzziah was a good and much loved king.  He was careful to follow the Lord and, Scripture tells us, “Uzziah was marvelously helped by God until he was strong.”  (2 Chronicles 26:15c)  He made many improvements in the land and innovations in infrastructure.  In addition, he built a huge army and equipped them with the best weapons of war.  In fact, he became famous for the war machines he made.  

God blessed him with wealth, success, and fame, however, when he became strong, he also became proud and acted unfaithfully.  He wanted the power of the priests, and he took it upon himself to burn incense in the temple.  Although it sounds as if Uzziah was simply serving God by offering a sacrifice, this act was off limits for the king.  Uzziah was acting in direct opposition to God.  He thought he could get away with it because he was king, but he found out differently.  

God had called someone else to be the priest; Uzziah’s job was simply to be king.  From that moment of defiance and disobedience, he was a leper.  

​It is amazing that a king as beloved as Uzziah could do such a dumb thing, but aren’t we just like him?  Don’t we seek God’s face diligently when we encounter battles that are too much for us, then try to handle things on our own when we are strong?  It is easy to venture into territory God never intended for us.

It is vitally important that we choose to be content with the tasks God has given to us.  He has not called us to be a one-man (or woman) show.  He has called us to work in the body of Christ as a team with each one having specific tasks.  We need to be careful to follow His plan for us, and careful to remain humble even when He strengthens us. 

  

For the rest of Uzziah’s life, when people looked at him, they saw his leprosy.  The mark of his disobedience became the most striking part of his appearance.  Let's be sure that, when people look at us, they do not see the scars of disobedience and rebellion, but the peacefulness of a life filled with obedience and faithfulness. 

Maggie and the Missed Adventure

Several months ago, I was cutting it close on mailing the electric bill payment, so, rather than risk being late, I drove to New Albany after work to drop my envelope in the payment slot.  It seemed like a quick, easy trip, so I stopped by the house and picked up Maggie the Wonder Dog.  She loves riding in the car, so it was supposed to be a treat for her.

I pulled up close to the slot and opened my car door, planning to hop out, quickly dash to the slot, drop in the envelope, and hop back into the car.  It was supposed to take just a few seconds.  I looked at Maggie, gave her a very firm "Stay!" and, quicker than my hop and dash, she was out the door. Thrilled with new territory, she ran in circles like a maniac dog.  Grinning as only a dog can do, she was running as fast as her short little legs would go.  Desperate to keep her from getting hit by passing traffic, I started to give chase, but soon realized that was making it worse.  She thought we were playing a game.

Two very nice men, who frankly looked a little rough and scary, stopped their truck and hopped out.  I was not sure what to expect, but they were unbelievably sweet.  "Hey lady, let us help you catch your little dog!" they said.  Maggie liked being chased by three adults even better than by her mama alone. Finally, I just sat down.  I was trying hard not to cry from pure frustration and fear.  "Maggie, come!" I commanded.  Much to my surprise, she came and hopped right in my lap.  "Well, how about that?" the men said, as I thanked them and they got back into their truck to drive away.  I was not at all happy with my silly dog.  This may have been a treat for her, but it definitely wasn't a treat for me!

Today, I needed to make the same dash to drop in the envelope so it wouldn't be late.  As I approached the Blue Springs exit, I thought, "I should go get Maggie.  She would love the ride."  Just as quickly I remembered her awful escapade outside the Electric Department the last time.  "Nope, not gonna happen this time," I said, as I drove past the exit.  Maggie's failure to obey the last time cost her a fun treat today.  I wasn't taking a chance on her again.

Disobedience is a tricky thing, isn't it?  At the time, it just seems like we have to do whatever it is that we are not supposed to do (or not do whatever it is we should do.)  That wonderful wrong thing never does turn out quite like I planned it.  Discipline usually comes pretty quickly for me, and that's a good thing.  What I have never considered before today is whether or not my consequences for disobedience include more than the obvious conviction and discipline.

As I drove toward New Albany, I wondered how many times I have missed a God-adventure because of past disobedience.  Does God ever think about a fun adventure with me, then say, "Nope.  I think I'll get someone else"?  I know that He forgives our sin, and I know that He removes it as far as the east is from the west, but it is not outside the truth in Scripture to think that, maybe, part of the discipline is a little delay in service while we learn from our errors. Just as I held Maggie close when she came back to me, He is quick to comfort us in our repentance, but perhaps He is as careful about risking us again as I am about Maggie.  Maybe He waits until He is sure of our dependability.

That sounds pretty awful, doesn't it? Tonight, disobedience seems a lot less attractive.  In fact, it seems totally pointless.  I love God-adventures, and I don't want to miss a single one.  The next time I want to do (or say, or think) something I shouldn't, I hope I remember Maggie and the missed adventure. Maybe you should, too.