Moses: beyond fear

"Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
Exodus 4:12-13

Moses should not have been a man with as much insecurity as he evidenced in his first encounter with God. He had been supernaturally and sovereignly rescued as an infant, raised in the highest Egyptian household as a privileged young prince, and trained to be a ruler among men. Yet one day he realized the plight of his ethnic brothers. In a rash moment he killed an Egyptian and fled for his life to become a nomadic shepherd far from Egypt and his Hebrew roots. And there God called him to deliver Israel from her bonds.

But Moses was afraid. He now had a comfortable life outside of Egypt, He cringed to go back to being either an Egyptian or a Hebrew, let alone a leader. As God revealed more of His call, Moses stressed out and gave more reservation. He let his fear override His worship and it began to anger God.

God gave Moses the ability to perform miraculous signs in order to convince Israel of the authenticity of his commissioning by God. Yet Moses resists, claiming that his stammering speech would keep him from being effective in Egyptian courts. He begs off the assignment, daring to ask God to send someone else. It is then that God promises that Moses can team up with his brother Aaron to speak and lead the nation out of Egypt.

Fear will lead us to potentially miss God's greatness. God wants to show Himself to us and work through us, but our fears can impede us. The story of Moses dramatically shows us how God will use us despite our fears and move beyond us. His strength is bigger than our sense of insecurity. Our fears can be overcome by God's power. He will be angry at our willful disobedience, but pleased when we let Him work in us, fears and all, for His purpose.

the unbelief of seeking signs

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Mark 8:12

Mark places this episode with the Pharisees in the context of a mighty miracle. Jesus has just provided food for four thousand people. Using seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, miraculous provision comes at His hands. It seems these demanding Pharisees were part of that crowd. With bread crumbs on their hands, they demand something "miraculous" in order for Jesus to prove His claims! They had the unbelieving gall to ask for this sign.

Then, immediately after this confrontation with the Pharisees, the text recalls a later episode where the disciples argued over a lack of food, forgetting Jesus' past miraculous intervention. And Jesus calls their self-absorbed lack of faith "the leaven of the Pharisees". Needing a sign from God is absolute unbelief. It is not in keeping with the life of a disciple. This chapter in Mark makes that absolutely and undeniably clear.

Due to a large extent to the past 100 years of American Pentecostalism, most Christians today are saturated with this awful, sinful, unbelieving leaven of the Pharisees. Most everyone seems to want a personal "word from God" as if scripture is insufficient, and signs and wonders are demanded. Christians believe the rambling story of a 4 year old boy about heaven, more than Jesus' own promises -- the One Who died, rose again, and ascended into heaven to make us a dwelling place there! We are fouled with the leaven of faithlessness as we revel in and drool over false "signs and wonders".

Jesus,
Is there faith to be found yet on earth when You return? Purge Your church of this idolatrous love of the leaven of the Pharisees. Keep our eyes on You alone as we read the gospels, obey the scripture, and may we stop testing Your patience with our awful unbelief! May we look only for the signs of Your return.
Amen

on liberty and community

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24

Christian liberty is a great thing. But I fear that I am guilty, along with my "i-Generation" of abusing it. We have created such a consumer culture in modern evangelicalism in America that the highest value gets placed on personal expressions. That is why churches that may preach the gospel quite well are shirked for ones that instead have lots of activities custom designed for personal desires to be met. I have heard more than one believer rationalize their choice with this sort of thinking. It is so unbiblical.

My personal liberty is not what Jesus came to affirm. He set me free from sin, but He called me to service as His slave. That's what a Lord is... a controller of someone else's destiny. This is supposed to be true of every Christian. But celebrating my "likes" is not what this kind of discipleship is about. It should be about worship within in a community of people redeemed from the world into the service of their King! This is why even our liberty must seek the good of others around us, and not be wasted on our own pleasures.

God made each of us unique. That is something that celebrates the wondrous creativity of our Maker. But it does not follow that all my preferences are holy. I am corrupted by a sin nature and have to look out for its influence even on the good way God made me. In fact, if I make my preferences the standard for another person, I am not being holy at all, but selfishly sinful. For instance, I love pecan pie. But if I insist that you only serve it to me, and that when you are with me, you must eat it, I have become insanely selfish. If I refuse to taste the vanilla pudding that you love, I am not acting like a redeemed child of God.

And so, I must balance my "likes" and liberties with your likes and liberties. And together God makes us into something that He is building up for His glory. Together we hold our personal desires up to Christ, repent of any sinful, selfish taints in them, and rejoice as God blends us into His holy church.

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values

Thus says the Lord:
“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?"
Jeremiah 2:5

What I value creates my worth
if I follow the Lord
treasure His Word
obey His voice
I have riches beyond measure

What is important to me
will mark my life
accumulate around me
visible to others
as where I know my pleasure

... the pursuit of worthlessness
will make a person worthless

When I value You, Lord
Your pleasures are my joys
Your will my path
Your love my heart
There is purpose in my direction

If I love You, Lord
my heart will always sing
of Your power and salvation
to anyone I meet
and my heart will be led by Your intention

...save me from worthlessness
so that I may never be worthless

dominion, fear & peace

Dominion and fear are with God;
he makes peace in his high heaven.
Job 25:2

For all their faults as counselors, Job's friends do have a robust theology. They know Who God is and what He does. They occasionally misapply some aspects of God's judgment and righteous indignation to Job, but they do understand the right things about God. Their mistakes are usually found in trying to understand Job. Bildad's comments here are worth some reflection.

In this short statement he declares some deep theological conviction. Three things about God are clear. The first is that God rules everything. He has all dominion. He is the King and the Controller of the universe. He does not just look out over the world; He has power to wield it as He wills. That is what dominion means. He can do with us and this world as He pleases. Because God is also holy and just, His pleasure to do anything is always good.

The second word Bildad uses to describe God is "fear". This attends His rulership of everything. It summarizes our first response when considering His greatness. This is not fear before Someone Who wishes to hurt us. Rather, it is fear before Someone Who has absolute power over us. We are nothing in the face of that kind of greatness.

The third and final word is "peace". God makes peace. And in that reality is all of our hope. The Almighty sovereign God of the universe Who can do anything and has all authority in all ways... the God Who is fearful to contemplate... this God makes peace with us. He reconciles and redeems. He seeks to be at one with us and not to strive against us even as we are His enemies. He is a loving king. His love for us to make peace with Him casts out all fear. And this insight leads us to trust God all the more.

though I fall

The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.
Psalm 37:23-24

A relationship with God is the best assurance in life. God promises to uphold us even in the most difficult of life circumstances. I may stumble. I may fall. I may fail in faith. But God's got me in His strong grip and will never lose me. God "establishes" my very steps when I trust in Him.

I notice that this is not a promise for an easy life. It is assumed that there will be difficulties. We are not promised endless sunshine or painless living as God's people. But when there is difficulty, when we do fall down, we won't "wipe out". We aren't destroyed by life's adverse circumstances. God still has a hold of us and will not let go. We may still hurt. We may still cry out. But God is right there and He will not let us come to ruin. God delights in people who delight in Him. He will keep them close in His sovereign care, forever.

Lord God,
I thank You that You are not only with me, but holding tight to my hand. You will not let me go. Lord Jesus, You will not leave me nor forsake me. Forgive my heart wanderings. It is easy to trust only in me or my life's physical circumstances. Yet Your unseen hand is on me and You will not let me come to ruin. Please, keep me aware of Your constant care. Though I fall, You never fail!
Amen


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be careful how you define success...

When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.
1 Samuel 14:47-48

From a political and military viewpoint Saul was a wildly successful leader. He managed to wage war against every enemy of Israel and to defeat them as they rose against the young kingdom. He built a strong army using every political alliance and popular strategy to build rapport with the people. If anyone started getting a reputation for success in any leadership field, Saul recruited them to his organization (see 1 Samuel 14:52). By this means he achieved credit for every remarkable success in his kingdom.

But Saul neglected the Lord. He had low regard for honoring God in his choices. And that became his downfall. God had chosen him, but Saul forgot that fact in the heady giddiness of success. Power and battle highs kept him from seeing that God's honor should have come first. God would eventually be disappointed with Saul to a point of no return (1 Samuel 15:11).

Saul began a slow and deliberately pain-filled descent into madness as a result. His power went to his head and corrupted his soul. He rejected God altogether and as a result, God moved sovereignly to take the kingship away from Saul (1 Samuel 15:22-23). His success would ultimately not be what Saul would leave for a legacy. He would end up drunk on power, a moody temperamental tyrant who obsessed over maintaining control. He ultimately would die by his own hand in battle, overrun by the enemy and helpless as Israel fell before the foe. He would die the opposite of his pinnacle of success.

Yet, from the tragedy of Saul's demise, God would raise David to be king. Israel would reunite under him to find more success and national security as David expanded the nation's borders. David would do more than Saul ever did. And David would lead Israel to bronze age Middle East dominance as the leader who was a man after God's own heart.