Category Archives: God

Waiting on the Lord

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Soldiers were coming to kill their babies. On a regular basis. The Israelites had suffered as slaves at the hands of the Egyptians for hundreds of years. None of them knew what freedom felt like. But this was much worse. Genocide.

Exodus chapters 1 and 2. Egyptians were killing Israelite babies. God’s people cried out to him and he heard their voice. He sent them a deliverer.

Eighty years later.

Eighty years. It was a crisis, an emergency situation. All human reasoning says that something had to be done at that moment. Divine reasoning agreed… and allowed the baby to be born that would bring about justice. Eighty years later.

But that’s the Old Testament, you say. Right you are. Let’s look at the book of Revelation. Christians were being persecuted. One had been killed. More were about to be killed. The people wanted to know what they should do: fight or flee.

God had a different plan: stay and suffer. And he would take care of the Romans. A couple of centuries later.

A couple of centuries later.

Human reasoning says, “Take care of it now. Bring about justice by your own hand. Something must be done immediately.”

Divine reasoning says, “I’ll take care of it. In my time.”

Do we have enough faith to wait on the Lord?

Drawing by Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing

Bad people used by God

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drawing by Annie Vallotton, Good News Bible

Habakkuk was troubled. To put it mildly. His nation was full of corruption. Injustice. Abuse of power. The good people, like Habakkuk, prayed. God didn’t answer.

Chapter 1 of the book of Habakkuk records his lament:

How long, O Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.

(Habakkuk 1:2-4)

Then God did answer. Literally. He answered Habakkuk and shared with him the plan: God was going to raise up Babylonia, a “ruthless and impetuous people” (1:6), to punish Judah.

Habakkuk didn’t like that answer at all. He tried to be respectful, but he knew that God must be overlooking the fact that Babylonia was evil. They were the bad guys. Could God possibly use evil people to punish “the good guys”?

O Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

(Habakkuk 1:2-4)

God later reassures Habakkuk that the Babylonians themselves will be punished for their misdeeds. But the short answer is yes, God uses the wicked to punish people, even people more righteous than they.

In fact, if we look at the biblical record, God rather consistently uses bad people as instruments of judgment. It’s the rare exception when he uses the righteous.

Yesterday we talked about telling God what to do. About how simple solutions usually aren’t simple and rarely solve anything. Here’s today’s question:

How will you react if God chooses to use evil people today to do his will?

The Lord is my alibi, I shall not want

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I remember a Tank McNamara cartoon from about 30 years ago where an athlete was being interviewed. “I didn’t want to drop that pass,” the athlete told the newsmen, “but it was the Lord’s will.” One of the guys’ teammates in the background says, “The Lord is my alibi, I shall not want.”

I was reminded of that listening to George Zimmerman on the news the other day. (And no, I’m not interested in a Martin-Zimmerman discussion; I’m fully convinced that we don’t have enough facts to discuss it intelligently) George said something to the effect of: “I’m sorry about what happened, but it was God’s plan. Who am I to question God’s plan?” The Lord is my alibi…

Along the same line, a friend of mine was counseling a young woman who had discovered that her husband was having an affair. The woman said, “But I know all of this is God’s plan.” My friend reminded her that God would continue to work in her life to bring good out of a bad situation, but by no means was it God’s plan that her husband commit adultery. The Lord is NOT anyone’s alibi.

Humans sin. Humans do things that God doesn’t want them to. God brings forward his overarching plans, but he gives humans the choice to join in with that or not. Back in 2008, I wrote the following:

I believe that God is all powerful and could control absolutely everything that goes on in this world. I also believe just as firmly that He has chosen not to do so. Not everything that happens it what God wanted to happen. He has granted unto men a certain about of free will, and that free will affects history. Look at Jeremiah 26; God says that His actions will be affected by what the people choose to do: “This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’S house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.” (Jeremiah 26:2-3) Also, consider that God’s desire is that everyone be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:5). Guess what folks: it hasn’t happened yet, in 2000 years. Why? Because God still allows men to make their own choices.

I’ve seen nothing to make me change my mind. (Or as my friend Ken Cukrowski once told me, “And I agree with me.”)

We have to take responsibility for our choices. We have to accept the responsibility for our lives. God wants to lead us in a certain direction; we can resist that leading and shipwreck our lives or we can accept his leading and enjoy the peace of being in his paths. There will still be suffering and hardships, for this world is a fallen one, but we can say, as the Psalmist says, “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.” (Psalms 73:24)

God has a plan. It just may not involve what’s going to happen this afternoon. Some things, he leaves up to me.

image from Clipart Mojo

I know the plans I have for you

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When it comes to Bible study, I’m a context guy. Annoyingly so. It really bothers me when verses are taken from their context, especially when they are then used to mean something very different than the original meaning.

Jeremiah 29 is a special chapter in the book. Jeremiah, under God’s direction, writes a letter to the exiles in Babylon. Contrary to what other “prophets” had told them, Jeremiah lets them know that their captivity will be a long one. He tells them to settle down, form families and adjust to life in this new land.

Then God gives them a specific timeframe for their captivity and promises for what will happen after that time:

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

For many a Precious Promises calendar and inspirational poster, Jeremiah 29:11 has become a standalone verse, promising for all time that God is going to do good things for whomever reads it. I’ve been known to say, “Well, if you’re enduring 70 years of captivity in Babylon, then these words would certainly apply to you.” Yes, I can be a bit of a smart aleck.

These words do offer hope. There’s a reminder that even when he punishes us, God still loves us. There’s a reminder that I don’t need to be short-sighted about things, that God’s plans for good can often take a generation or two. There’s a reminder that God ultimately wants to bless us, and that my own rebellion can get in the way of that.

Jeremiah 29:11 is not meant to support chess-board theology, that theory that God is moving humans around like pieces on a chessboard. It does remind remind us that he is present and active in our world, even when 70 years of suffering make us think otherwise.

Am I being too harsh with those who want to use this verse as a promise that God is going to do good things for them all through their life? To me, 70 years is a long time. Few of the people that I hear quote this verse seem to be willing to wait 70 years for those good things God has promised. Or am I misreading both them and the biblical passage?

Please God or suffer the consequences

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My wife is coming back today from a mission trip to Costa Rica. Knowing that she’s coming back, I tried to do a bit of straightening up around the house. I’m laundering not only my clothes but the sheets and towels as well. And I’ve got a brisket in the crock pot, so she won’t have to worry about cooking for a couple of days.

I do all of that, of course, because I’m afraid she’ll divorce me if I don’t. That’s the only reason people in a loving relationship think about pleasing the other, right? When she gets home, she’ll take care of many of the chores around the house, knowing that I’ll toss her out on the street if she doesn’t.

Hopefully by now you realize that I write in jest. Yet this reflects the way many talk about our relationship with God. Those who believe in salvation by works often say that if you take out that element of fear of condemnation, people won’t want to do good things. Some who are assured of their salvation will mock any attempts to discuss what is pleasing to God, saying that the only thing that matters is that we have eternal life.

For many, that’s the bottom line: am I going to an eternal reward or eternal punishment?

Just as the relationship I described in the first two paragraphs is far from healthy, so such an attitude toward God is sick. Back in January, I wrote:

Neither do I believe in a mere transactional relationship with God. That is, I think that my relationship with God isn’t just about getting what I want from Him (in this case, salvation). In a relationship of love, you seek to please the other, not because of what you might get by doing so, but because you love the other.

And I fully agree with myself. :-)

I seek to know God’s will, to know what pleases Him, not because I’m afraid He’ll toss me in the lake of fire when this life is over. I do it because I love Him and want to do what He wants. I want to be like Him, more so every day.

Am I misguided in this view?