Zechariah 8:6 This is what the LORD Almighty says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small and discouraged remnant of God’s people. But do you think this is impossible for me, the LORD Almighty? I feel a little bit like the remnant sometimes. I feel small and discouraged by the circumstances of my life. Last Sunday was one of those days. I was frustrated by some of the events that had happened and discouraged by life. The hope of God’s promises seemed really impossible and it seemed like we’d never get out of the situation we’re in. There always seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon, but it never seems to get any closer. I was overwhelmed and felt incredibly small compared to the craziness and circumstances of what is going on around me. But God reminded me of His faithfulness, first through a song by Israel Houghton called “Everywhere That I Go.” Here are the lyrics from the chorus: You promised me, you’ll never leave You promised me, I’m never forsaken and I believe Goodness and mercy, will follow me Surrounding me, where I go Every where that I go These words are incredibly comforting because they remind me that God NEVER leaves, He NEVER gives up, He NEVER fails to keep His promises. He never makes pie-crust promises (those promises that are easily made, easily broken… as Mary Poppins would say). Everywhere that I go, He is there, surrounding me with His great LOVE! So, what seems like it would be impossible and has over time seemed like it will never end, is not impossible for God. He never leaves me stuck here, He never gives up on me, and He never fails to keep His promises. Is it impossible? For me, yes. For God, no. I still get discouraged and feel tiny compared to my overwhelming circumstances, but this (and God’s continual reminders through music) helps me to stay focused on the fact that God is SO much bigger than my storm and SO much more able to do the impossible than I can imagine. I certainly don’t know the future, but I do know that He’s already been there and already knows the best path to take to get there. And in the end, if I get there holding His hand, then no matter what life throws at me, He will lead me in His presence and eventually all those promises will be true.
Obediah 1 As I’m reading through all the prophets and their messages of doom (and the occasional glimmer of hope) it’s easy for me to wonder what on earth I can learn from it. And then today, as I read a commentary on Obediah, it smacked me in the face! OUCH! The man who wrote the commentary points out that the struggle between Israel and Edom (of whom Obediah speaks) is an ancient one that originated in the struggle between Jacob and Esau! That this struggle is symbolic of the struggle between the Spirit and the flesh. This fleshly part is pride. That’s what the Bible says was Esau’s problem, and it’s ours too. I read that and kept going filing it away as interesting. Until I read: one way it might be expressed is in self-sufficiency… Bam! That caught my attention! This is something I struggle with constantly! It’s also an area of my life that I feel God has been working on for a while through all these financial issues. My first thought when there’s a problem is, “how can I fix this?” And there’s that self-sufficiency rearing its ugly head. I had never connected that with pride until now. So, that right there put the whole thing in perspective. I asked God to speak to me this morning, and man, did He ever! To a great degree, the struggles of the past year make sense. It’s the eternal struggle between Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom, Spirit and flesh (pride). I am getting a little better about the self-sufficiency thing. Not so much because it’s second nature, but more because God has removed my ability to be self-sufficient. Most times there’s nothing I can do but trust that He’ll take care of things. Self-sufficient is itself an interesting term. Self – that’s me, me, me (the essence of pride). Sufficient – that’s the ability to be enough. God says His grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9). Paul hopes that his courage will be sufficient so he won’t disgrace his Lord (Phil. 1:20). 2 Corinthians 3:5 says that “our sufficiency is from God.” So when we believe we are enough by ourselves or in ourselves, we shut out God and make ourselves higher than He is. What a mistake that is! Every time I’ve done this, I’ve found that I’m not everything I’ve made myself out to be, and the consequences of my pride are pretty ugly. So what can I learn from all these prophets? I look for the metaphor. And realizing that I fall victim to pride (my flesh) I can learn to recognize those moments of self-sufficiency so I can stop trying to play God and let God be exalted and sufficient for me. And hopefully, sooner rather than later, I’ll get better at this lesson.
Amos 8:7 Now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel:… In Hebrew the name is “The Pride of Jacob.” Remember, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel after wrestling with God. I read a post recently that said, “So much of Genesis is about Jacob’s struggle to make God his God.” This is an interesting point. Why would one of God’s names be The Pride of Jacob if it took Jacob so long to even make God his own God? I suddenly realize how little I know of Jacob. I think that maybe I will go back and study him a little so that I can better understand this name of God. Perhaps this name has something to do with the fact that it took Jacob quite some time to take pride in God and accept his name change. Similarly, it took God a long time to finally punish the nation of Israel. God had patience with both Jacob and his namesake nation. It’s an interesting name.
Joshua 22:34 The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Witness” for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.” The tribes of Reuben and Gad were separated from the rest of Israel by the Jordan River and they built an altar on their side so that their descendants would know that they, too, had the right to worship God. The other 10 tribes thought they had built an altar to worship at, which was not allowed. They were afraid that Reuben and Gad were sinning and would bring trouble on the entire nation. But once Reuben and Gad explained why they had made the altar, they were satisfied that the two tribes weren’t worshiping God in a place outside His temple and were keeping the covenant. So Reuben and Gad named the altar witness to remind them all that God was also their God, even though they were separated from the other 10 tribes by the river. What do I have in my life as a witness that God is my God? We don’t build things symbolically too often, but our altars are perhaps more telling… Our lives. Do I stand as a witness by the things I do in my life? Are my actions and words a reminder that God is my God? Sure, I could wear a pretty necklace with a cross on it, but these days that’s pretty meaningless to most people. But, really, is there anything in my life that stands as witness? I could find an object to symbolize the relationship so that every time I saw it I would remember that He is my God. Or, I could have a relationship with Him and each morning when I spend time with Him that could be my reminder that He is my God. There’s not a right answer to this since everyone is different. It’s just an interesting question….
Jeremiah 6:16So now the Lord says, “Stop right where you are! Look for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘ No that’s not the road we want!’” Israel is determined to do things her own way, falling in with the nations around her instead of staying true to the commands that God gave their forefathers. The sad result of this is that in chapter 7 God says that He has rejected and forsaken this generation. In chapter 6 he talks about how they are labeled “Rejected Silver” because He is discarding them. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be discarded and forsaken by God. We are blessed because we have the promise of Jesus to never leave us or forsake us. But that promise is made to His children. As part of His family, we may sadden Him and He may allow us to feel the consequences of our actions when we reject Him and His paths, but He won’t abandon us. To be abandoned and discarded, just pushed aside, would be horrible. But God doesn’t do that lightly. Even then He had reminded them time and again that they were doing the wrong thing and needed to change. And time and again they ignored Him, even killing His messengers. He is incredibly patient, but finally decides that enough is enough and there will be consequences to their actions. I am so thankful that God is patient with me, even when I’ve earned the consequences I’m experiencing. I’m thankful that He wants to show me the right path. I’m thankful that He won’t discard or forsake me. And I am thankful that my heart is still soft enough to respond to His checks and prompts. I pray that it is always that way and that I don’t ever get to the place where I reject Him and His path again.
Joshua 17:16They said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and the Canaanites in the lowlands around Beth-shan and the valley of Jezreel have iron chariots – they are too strong for us.” Then Joshua said tot he tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the decendants of Joseph, “Since you are so large and strong, yhou will be given more than one portion. THe forests of the hill country will be yours as well. Clear as muchof the land as you wish and live there. And I am sure you can drive out the Canaanites from the valleys, too, even though htey are strong and have iron chariots.” These two tribes wanted more land, but didn’t want to do the work to clear out the extra land allotted to them by Joshua. Joshua turns it on them reminding them of their great numbers and strength (part of why they wanted more land) and says “Surely you can do it since you’re so big and strong.” Often we are like these two tribes. We want more than we have, but we don’t want to have to do anything to get it. We’d rather get it all tied up nicely in a bow. But more often than not, that’s not how God operates. In order to grow, we must also work. To grow crops you must plant seed and care for it. So it is with our lives and our possessions. Rarely is anything just given to us. But the process of struggle and work refines us and prepares us so that when we do clear the land we can keep possession of it; when we do get the bigger and better things we hoped for, we don’t squander them or use them ill. The tribes needed to remember that God was bigger than the iron chariots and the Canaanites. God is bigger than our giants, too. So don’t be afraid to step up to the plate. Work, fight, grow, trust, receive.
Numbers 27:5-7So Moses brought their case before the Lord. And the Lord replied to Moses, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You must give them an inheritance of land along with their father’s relatives. Assign them the property that would have been given to their father.” One of the men who had died in the wilderness only had daughters. When land was being doled out among the tribes, it generally went to the men of the tribe and their sons. But this man had only daughters, and because of that, they would get no land. So, the decided to petition Moses to have land assigned to them. And, God said that they were right and that in the future, any man who died without sons would have his inheritance go to his daughters and so on. A couple of cool things – first, they were brave enough to ask. It’s not clear to me if their father died of natural causes or was one of the men who was killed in one of God’s plagues or what, but whatever happened, they came and asked. And God gave them what they asked for, and in the end, it benefited all the women in Israel. Sometimes we need to remember to ask. Be brave enough to come and ask. I tell my students all the time that if they don’t ask me, I don’t know they need something. Granted, God knows what we need before we ask, but He wants us to come to Him and ask. It helps us remember that we need Him and can’t do it on our own. In a book I read by a woman who used to be an anchor at CNN, she says that the worst thing someone can say is “no.” And what does that hurt? So, I try and remember to be brave enough to ask. It doesn’t hurt anything, and there’s a good chance that you will get what you ask for. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask. Second, their request gave women some ability to own land. That doesn’t seem very important, but in a society that was so male-centric, women didn’t get land or property. She lived with her father, then with her husband or his family. If she had sons, she lived with them if her husband died. But, if a man only had daughters, his name would die out and his daughters, traditionally, got nothing to survive on. This request changed all that. God said that if a man died without sons, the inheritance should go to his daughters. If he had no daughters it would go to his brothers, and so on. I think this is part of the law that Ruth called on when she asked Boaz to redeem the inheritance of her husband. Anyway, God loves the daughters as well as the sons, and changes the law to give them a way to survive if there was nobody left to care for them. God’s good like that.