An Argument Worth Losing

As followers of Jesus Christ, we live in a state of tension between what actually is and what is possible. We know that in Jesus the power of death, destruction and evil has been rendered impotent and replaced with life. At the same time we see and feel darkness at work around us all the time. We know God empowers us to be light and bring light to the darkness, but in our humanness, we often fear the worst-case scenario. It is the tension between what God says can be and what we fear will be. Jacob knew this tension well.

God told Jacob to return home, and so Jacob set out toward home. However, he faced a big problem. Years earlier, he tricked his dying father into giving him the blessing that his Father intended to give Esau, his older brother, and then fled for his life to keep Esau from killing him.  And now, both fearfully and faithfully, Jacob was on his way home for what would include an inevitable reunion with Esau.

Just before coming face-to-face with Esau, he spent a night alone wrestling with a “man.” Even though this “man” wanted to be released from the contest, Jacob would not give up the struggle. As the story develops we learn he was wrestling with God and would not give up until he had his blessing.  It was at this point Jacob receive a new name that his descendants carry to this day, Israel.

So what was the wrestling about? Jacob was wrestling with what he thought was probable and what God had promised, what he saw from a human assessment and what God said would be. Jacob prays, “I am afraid…, but you have said.”

Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, "I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.” (Genesis 32:11–12, NIV84)

“I am afraid, but you have said,” is the argument we all have with ourselves as we follow God.  Details aside, God calls us each into an expansive life filled with love and power that changes the world. From our human perspective we have our reasons for being fearful. We’re afraid of we’ll fail, afraid we’re look silly, afraid we’re wrong, afraid of what might happen to us, etc. The other side of the equation is what God has said.

Living into what God has said always requires us to win the argument with ourselves between what God has promised and what we fear. When we win that argument and live into being the people God created us to be, it’s called faith. Faith is not the absence of fear. Faith is acting according to what God promises instead of what I fear. Everyone who has ever sought to make a godly difference in their own lives and in the lives of others continually engages in that argument. It's an argument we can't avoid, but it's an argument worth losing!

(See Genesis 32)

Not Enough is Enough

One of the great wounds many of us carry is the feeling, “we are not enough.” We are not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, pretty enough, or (fill in the blank) enough. We see and feel that in our own lives, and we see it in the people of the Bible. Gideon clearly felt like he was not enough.

Gideon lived during a time when his country, Israel, was routinely overrun by an oppressive group of people so vast they could not be counted. Whenever Israel planted their crops, these people would invade and ravage the land leaving the Israelites impoverished. This happened so routinely, the Israelites became doomsday preppers, literally building and using shelters in the mountains to which they would flee.

When the Lord gave instructions to Gideon to do something about this, Gideon’s response clearly revealed his sense of not being enough.

“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Judges 6:15, NIV84)

Manasseh was the largest tribe in Israel, but Gideon viewed his group of people in this tribe as the weakest and himself as the least significant member of his family. He was the least of the least. He was not enough. How could he save Israel?

There are two expectations that emerge next in the story that tell us how he did go on to accomplish this task. The first is the expectation God has of us. He tells Gideon not to worry but to apply whatever strength he has (Judges 6:14). All God expects of us is to do what we are capable of doing. The second expectation is about what we can expect from God. God promises Gideon he will be with him and they will accomplish the task together (Judges 6:16). When we apply ourselves, we can expect God to make up what we lack.

Here’s the good news. Alone we are not enough, but we are never alone. When we are pressing into being the people God created us to be, when we are pressing into creating the kind of existence for ourselves and others God wants us to create,  God is always with us, making up what we lack. God with us makes us always “enough.”

The first part of this story can be found in Judges 6:1-16.

Incomplete Without Love (1 Corinthians 13)

Without love, I am nothing but a noisemaker. I am nothing. I gain nothing.

Even if I am gifted with the ability to communicate clearly with heaven and earth,

Even if I have intellectual abilities that allow me to understand how all things work,

Even if I accomplish great things,

Even if I am self-sacrificing to the point of giving away every penny I own, even giving up my own life,

Without love it means nothing, accomplishes nothing, and is in fact – NOTHING!

Love is more about how I live my life than about what I do with it.

I do not concern myself with what I want or don’t want.

When others do not act according to my time-table, I am patient.

When others seem to encroach upon my “space,” I am kind.

When others have what I want, I am not envious of what they have nor do I brag about the possessions or abilities I have.

Because, IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!

I am not the center of the universe.

                        I am not rude, seeking to advance my own agenda.

I am not easily angered, for I am at least as concerned for others as I am myself.

                        I keep no record of wrongs, because life is not about me.

            I refuse to give way to anything that destroys or tears down others.

                        I protect.

                        I trust.

                        I hope.

                        I refuse to give up on believing for the best in others!

Love is the mature way to live, for love will never fail.

            Knowledge will fall short.

            Communication will cease.

Achievement will not be enough.

Love will remove all the barriers.

We will come face-to-face with completeness.

What is incomplete will be made complete.

We will know fully and be fully known.

Love is everything. It is what gives direction to faith and hope.

Opened Eyes

The story is at best mystifying and at worst offensive. Sarah tells Abraham to “get rid of that slave woman and her son,” which is actually Abraham’s son, Ishmael. God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah, so Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael off into the desert! God did tell Abraham not to worry, that Ishmael would become a great nation, but it still leaves me scratching my head. (Genesis 21:8-19)

I don’t understand why God endorsed this course of action, but I do understand how Hagar probably felt. One day she is cared for and protected. The next day she is banished, not knowing who will protect and provide for her and her son. Eventually she runs out of water. Sure that they are both going to die, she hides her son under a bush, sits down, and waits for death to come.

Instead of death, God comes. He tells her not to be afraid, that he has great plans for her son. He replaces her fear with hope. At that moment, “God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” (Genesis 21:19a, NIV84) It does not say God caused a water well to appear. It says God opened her eyes, and she saw it. Apparently it had been there all along.

This is something with which I can identify.  Grief, loss, discouragement, and hopelessness can blind us. The situations we sometimes find ourselves in can be so disheartening or appear so overwhelming that we can’t see God’s provision, even when it’s right in front of us.

In times like that, it’s helpful to remember God has a plan, just like he had a plan for Hagar and Ishmael. It may not be what we expected or wanted, but it’s a good plan, a plan that instills hope for the future.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV84)

Sometimes It Doesn’t Make Sense

The storm was so bad they literally wrapped ropes around the ship to hold it together.

For fourteen days they were at the mercy of the storm, most of the time without food. Everything that wasn’t “nailed down” had been thrown overboard, and they had given up all hope of being saved.

Paul warned them it wouldn’t end well, and they didn’t listen. Still, the Lord assured Paul that none would lose their lives, and Paul shared that with his shipmates. On the fourteenth night they realized they were near land, so they dropped anchor, hoping the ship would hold together long enough to make a run at the beach during daylight. Some of the men tried to slip away in the lifeboat, but Paul warned the centurion guarding him that if that happened, the centurion would not be saved. 

The centurion did the unthinkable; he got rid of the lifeboat. He cut the ropes and let it drift away. He was “all-in.” From a human perspective it made more sense to keep the lifeboat "just in case," but the centurion thought his best option was to put his trust in God, even if that trust was only by proxy through Paul.

A friend of mine once ignored the leading of God to go on a short-term mission trip. The region to which God was calling him was just too dangerous, and then he ended up almost being killed at home in a traffic accident. That’s when he learned the safest thing to do is to trust God, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.

This all makes me wonder where the lifeboats are in my life. Where am I fooling myself, thinking I’m all in and yet holding on to other options just in case? Where is God calling me to sell out, and yet I’m keeping a lifeboat around because it makes sense? Where are the ropes that need to be cut make sure my trust is in God and nowhere else?

What about you? Are you letting anything hang around that might tempt you to trust someone or something other than God? Maybe it’s time to sharpen some knives and cuts some ropes.

(See Acts 27 for the story as it’s told in the Bible.)

Don't Surrender to Fear

In reading the book of Joshua I am struck by how often God encourages Joshua not to be afraid. Joshua must have been dealing with fear for the Lord to encourage him to be strong and courageous. When I remember who Joshua was, I find myself encouraged that this great, seemingly fearless leader of God’s people had to receive regular encouragement from God not to be afraid. His willingness to overcome his fear and trust God was what allowed him to lead the Hebrew people to take possession of the Promised Land.

I seldom think of myself as “fearful.” I use words like common sense and wisdom sometimes when what I really am is afaid. I can provide lists of why I have not moved forward to blaze the trails for God in this world that I’ve dreamed about. When I’m really honest with myself and others, it’s fear that holds me back; fear of failure, fear of looking stupid, fear of not having the approval of others, and even fear of what I might lose in terms of material possessions and finances.

Today I hear the voice of God whispering to me in the same way he whispered to Joshua millenia ago. He says to me be strong and courageous. Fear not. I will be with you. You will succeed.

Those whispers are not for me alone. They are for you. What dreams has God given you to advance his cause? What fears are holding you back? Listen! You will hear him say to you...

"Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9, GNB)