Pleading with Jesus

The winds were high. The boat was being swamped. The disciples were terrified. They pleaded with Jesus to wake up and do something. As Jesus woke up from His deep sleep in the boat, He simply told the wind and the waves to “Be still!” And the wind and the waves obeyed Him. When they got to the other side of the lake, they were met by a man who wandered day and night in the tombs cutting himself and howling. And Jesus told the legion of demons to leave him and they did. They went straight into a herd of 200 pigs that plunged into the lake and drowned! Imagine being a disciple or a herdsman at that scene!

I wonder how I would have responded. The people pleaded with Jesus to leave their community. So He did. And I wonder, why did they ask Him to leave? The disciples pleaded with Him to save them. Other communities brought their sick and possessed people to Him to be healed. The man who was healed wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus asked the healed man to stay back and tell the people what God had done for him.

As I ponder this, I wonder if the people asked Jesus to leave because they saw Him as a danger to their economy. After all, 200 pigs just ran into the lake and drowned. Were they frightened by His power? Maybe they had felt in control of their lives and everything was going along just fine before He showed up. What would He do next if He stayed? Would He mess up their comfortable lives? Would He look into the secret places in their lives and expose them?

Psalm 139:23 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” That can be a dangerous prayer. If I am truly asking God to do that, I need to be ready for what He will uncover in me. But when He brings things to light, it always leads to healing if I will confess and allow Him to come into that place and clean it up.

If all I want in life is to remain comfortable and feel safe, I cannot follow Jesus. He is not “safe” in that way. He will ask me to go places and do things that I am not comfortable with. He will ask me to give up anything that gets between me and God. But the great thing is that He does not ask me to go alone. He promises to go with me, to never leave me, and to guide me. I am always safe with Him. He also promises us eternal life with Him if we follow Him. I do not need to fear death because, as Paul says, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21.

Holy Father, I never want to push you away because I fear anything. You said in Your Word that perfect love casts out all fear. Fill me with Your perfect love and help me to move forward with confidence wherever You lead me. Amen.

Isolation, Social Distancing, or Sabbath Rest

I have been reading Leviticus (I think I just heard a chorus of groans). It is usually one of my least favorite books in the Bible because it is tedious and full of things that don’t pertain to us now (how to do the sacrifices, what animals are acceptable, etc.). I have also been reading Judges – a long series of leaders that rose up when Israel would forget God and go through the cycle of worshipping idols and then be invaded by another kingdom and be in captivity or made slaves to the invading country and come back to God, be restored to their land, and then soon wonder off again. In light of COVID-19 gaining momentum in our country, these readings have been causing me to ponder.

One of the things God asked the people of Israel to do was let the land rest every 7 years and every 50 years was to be a year of Jubilee when any land that had been sold was to be returned to the original family and people were to return home to their land and their clan. And that was one of the things God addressed with the Israelites when they went into captivity. He told them that because they refused to observe the Sabbath rests for the land, He would give the land its rest while they were in captivity in another country. You see, when God asks us to do something, it is important to Him that we obey.

Now, over 2,000 years after the Messiah came and told us that He was the fulfillment of the Law, we are no longer required to let the land rest every 7 years or return land to the original family every 50 years. But, we are invited to Sabbath rest. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29 “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

As we are ordered to stay home and unable to do business as usual (at least for most of us), I wonder if God is giving us time to ponder who He is and if He is saying, “You have been too busy to take a Sabbath rest, so I will give you a couple months of rest while you wait for the virus to subside.” I feel like He is showing us what is important – time for our children, time to notice His amazing creation all around us, time to build relationship with Him, and He is teaching us the importance of praying. There is a lot more praying going on these days as we find ourselves coming face to face with our mortality!

Just maybe, God is using this time to reset our compasses to due Eternity. Many of us have forgotten why we are here – the purpose God has given us. We fail to worship Him and begin to worship ourselves among other “idols” we have set up for ourselves including our achievements, our financial status, our travels, our entertainments, our friends and acquaintances, or whatever we have put between ourselves and our God. Our churches compete with each other for bigger, better, and more instead of joining together with the purpose of telling others about our Savior, Jesus Christ, who came to take away the sins of the world including taking their sins and giving them His righteousness! We have good news to share and instead many of us gather for entertainment and ritual. Just maybe God is showing us who the Church is – the unified body of Christ - not a building or a program, but the body of Christ! All joined together as one!

And just maybe, if He has gotten our attention and we respond well, He will be able to shorten the time of COVID-19 because it has accomplished its purposes. Yes, Satan meant it for evil, the destruction of many lives, but God can and will use it for good, the building of His church and the saving of many lives for eternity.

Father, we confess we have lost sight of our purposes here and we have a lot of speed-learning to do about what it means to be Your Church. As we have this time of Sabbath Rest, restore our souls and lead us to the green pastures and streams of living water that You have for us. Teach us to keep our hearts, minds and souls focused on eternity that we would serve Your eternal purposes and not get caught up in the world’s near-sighted ways. Heal our land and our people that together we might shout Your praises and bring You glory! In the mighty and powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

The Valley of Trouble

It is just a little white lie or letting a little information out so I can look good. It is just a pen from a co-worker’s desk. No big deal. Right? 

God gave very specific directions about what was to happen with the people and plunder from Jericho. All the gold, silver, bronze, and iron were to be taken to the Lord’s treasury. All the people except Rahab and her family who were with her were to be destroyed along with all the cattle, sheep and goats. They were to take nothing at the risk of bringing trouble on Israel. 

But one man was overcome with greed and took several items and buried them under his tent. He couldn’t even enjoy them because he had to keep them hidden. And because of that one man’s sin, 35 men died in the next battle. It had all seemed okay at the time. Nothing happened as he took the robe, the gold, the silver for himself. It all seemed to not have consequences even though God had specifically said not to take things for themselves. But then the next battle came as Israel was claiming the Promised Land. And they were soundly beaten. God had removed His protection and His favor. All of Israel suffered because of this one man’s sin. 

Joshua went to the Lord and asked what happened? Why had God let them lose this battle? What was going to happen to the great name of the Lord who was leading Israel into the Promised Land? Were they all going to die at the hands of the Canaanites after all the grand things the Lord had done for them up to this point? The Lord replied that they had broken His covenant by stealing and lying. And because of this, He would no longer remain with them unless they destroyed the things among them that were set apart for destruction. 

And so, tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, they sorted down to the man who took the treasures from Jericho. And he and his family and all his belongings, including what he had stolen, his cattle, sheep and goats, and even his tent, were destroyed in the Valley of Achor which was now called the Valley of Trouble.

God is a Holy God. His presence cannot go with us if we continue to live in sin. David understood this when he prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 David did not want anything to come between him and God. He wanted to bless God and be blessed by God – to dwell in the presence of God. He knew that God was his source of strength when he went to battle. He couldn't do it without God's presence with him.

God is serious about my redemption. Am I? He sent Jesus to die for my sins. I don’t need to be buried in the Valley of Trouble when I fail. Am I willing to pray with David, “Search me, God?” Am I willing to let God examine me and show me where I have sinned and need forgiveness? Am I willing to confess what He shows me? He is willing to cleanse me and heal me. His desire is for me to walk in His promises and live under His blessings. But I cannot be there if I am holding onto any sins – little or big!

O God, search me and know my heart. See if there is any sin in me and bring it to my attention so I can deal with it at the cross. My desire is to walk in Your presence all the days of my life and reflect Your glory. Amen.