Another Plan

Proverbs 14:12 NIV

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Do You Know What To Do?

Our youngest son recently played in his baseball league’s all-star game and he did well.  He drove in the tying run with a base hit to center and he was brought in to pitch the 7^th inning with the game tied and got the batter to ground out to second with the bases loaded to end the threat.  The bottom of that inning, our first batter grounded out and our second hitter came up with nobody on base.  He hit a drive deep into right field and got all the way around to third base for a triple.  Now the winning run was at third base with only one out and a left handed hitter up to bat.  He was in the ninth slot which meant he was the worst hitter in the line-up.  As I stood behind home plate watching the action, almost immediately a plan came to my mind.  I knew exactly what strategic move the manager should make to try to get the winning run home.  It was not my call though and so I waited to see what the batter would do.  Our team had been killed all year by the team we were playing so it was a monumental moment for them.  What would the manager do?  What was his plan for trying to score the winning run?  Was he thinking like me?

Perhaps you have had a tough time trying to figure out what to do.  It’s not easy sorting through all the options.  Maybe it’s more of a binary decision…this or that.  Here or there.  Yes or no.  The idea that God cares about what you do and has input into your decisions and decision-making is not universally accepted and outright rejected by many.  One of the primary arguments for abortion rights is the position that a woman has a right to do with her body as she wishes.  Without addressing the specious basis of that contention, we must consider the theological issue here.  Is God in the abortion equation?  Does He play a part in the decision-making of what to do?  Now that is a critical question to ask, and not just with regard to abortion but in every area of life!  Is there room for God to have a say in what you do?  It matters what you decide on this.  Either God guides you or He doesn’t and how you land on this can have huge ramifications for you and others.

The Bible certainly has a lot to say about this but let’s look at some particular case studies in Scripture that illustrate the ways others have dealt with this issue.  Rebekah is certainly not a well-known figure in the Bible but she plays an important part in the lineage of the nation of Israel as well as for Jesus Himself.  She seems to have been a young bride who married an older man in a quasi-arranged marriage.  After twenty years of going childless, finally she conceived and it was not a single child but twins in her womb.  She wasn’t sure why she felt so much turmoil in her womb so she went to the Lord to see what was happening in her.  The Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23 NIV)  That of course was surprising news but before we move off this, let us take a closer look at Rebekah’s response to the prophecy.  We don’t know how Rebekah heard what God said to her or why she knew God said it.  Perhaps there was an audible voice or maybe like many of us, somehow the Lord got this message to her in an inaudible but knowable way.  Regardless, the point to be made is that the Lord declared to her the future of her still unborn twins and Rebekah knew it was really God who put it in her brain.

Over the course of the next forty years, Rebekah grew more attached to her younger son Jacob than her older boy Esau.  This happens.  It isn’t shocking to us that parents develop favorites among their kids.  Of course it is sad and in this case it led to great turmoil and pain for the entire family.  Rather than trusting God to do what He said He would do and make the younger stronger than the older in due time, Rebekah decided to rush the process along in her own way.  Believing perhaps she was acting for God, she got her son Jacob to trick her husband Isaac to give the blessing he planned on giving to the older son Esau to Jacob.  Rebekah took advantage of her husband Isaac’s blindness by having Jacob dress up in his brother’s clothes and lie that he was Esau.  Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.  She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.  He went to his father and said, "My father."  "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?"  Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing."  (Genesis 27:15-19 NIV)

Rebekah heard the voice of God.  He spoke to her about both the present and the future and she knew it really was God saying it all after she did give birth to twins like God said she would.  But then something happened that takes place a million times across generations.  Rebekah went off on her own without God.  Perhaps you have done this too.  God spoke to you about something.  It was undeniably Him.  You were certain of it.  But then time passed and you stopped waiting for Christ to lead you.  You trusted your own wits.  You believed in your intuition, your understanding of things.  And then, without you even really knowing it, you were on your own…without God…without Him showing you the way.  It happened with Mary the mother of Jesus.  She knew God told her that Jesus was the Messiah, God in flesh.  It was a great miracle, His conception.  Mary bravely bore the child and raised Him to believe He was the Messiah.  But then something went wrong in Mary.  She watched Jesus as He moved among the crowds, heard what He was saying to them and grew concerned about Him.  The work of Jesus wasn’t going as she thought it would and Jesus wasn’t saying the kinds of things Mary expected.  Mary thought something wasn’t quite right with Jesus; that maybe He was losing His mind and so she decided to take matters into her own hands.  Without consulting God or even knowing what the Father wanted of her, Mary gathered her other sons and brought them to where Jesus was sitting with His disciples, teaching a small crowd in a home.  Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." … Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  (Mark 3:20-21, 31)

What happened with Mary happens over and over in the hearts of people who genuinely love Jesus and want Him to be in charge.  Something doesn’t seem right.  Plans aren’t going as expected.  It is tougher than you thought it would be.  The career isn’t taking off.  Family isn’t what you had hoped.  You aren’t what you envisioned.  It is hard and God is not fixing things.  Or, it could be too easy for you.  You’ve got everything together and you unconsciously don’t need God anymore.  He is just not on the list of things that matter most to you.  We don’t see this in ourselves, the impatience, the eroding faith in God, the nonchalance about His will and direction but it happens.  We slowly stop going to Christ for guidance.  We start figuring things out ourselves and without warning we are on our own, the master of our ship.  What comes of this growing independence, this “self-actualization”?  We are on our own!  We are like all others who have no God to guide them, no Spirit to help them along.

There is something heartwarming about the Israelites as they stood at the edge of the Red Sea with the terrifying Egyptian army and all their chariots and weaponry barreling down upon them.  Logic insisted they surrender.  As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.  They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"  (Exodus 14:10-12 NIV)  We mustn’t forget what a frightening sight the parted Red Sea must have been as an escape route the LORD had chosen for them.  It could not have been inviting to see hundreds of feet of water piled up on each side of the path but they took it because the Israelites believed, even if it was just a bit of faith, that God knew the way for them.

Within you, if you have been born again, the Spirit of God lives and He is ready to guide you.  He can show you the right way to go at each moment if you are willing to let Him be in charge.  If though you turn your back to Him or ignore Him or reject Him, the Spirit will be silent and let you go along on your own.  He will give you the opportunity to see just what it is like without God putting your life together.  Rebekah found out  how great her plan was when a few days later she watched her beloved son Jacob walk out the door, never in her lifetime to return.  We need Christ to lead us, to show us the way.  It is the greatest of gifts to have the Lord of the Universe living inside us, ready to open doors for us, give us wisdom that is supernatural and make things work out that couldn’t without Him. 

About Men

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.

What Makes a Man “Manly”?

There is a fascinating case study presented in the Old Testament that is generally overlooked by most readers of the Bible.  Before the nation of Israel had a king, there were a variety of regional leaders, called judges, who helped guide the people and unify them in times of national crisis.  There was a prophetess named Deborah who was looked to for insight in settling disputes and she was greatly respected by the people of the region of Ephraim.  She sent for Barak of Naphtali to come and lead the local army against a coalition of Canaanites who had been cruelly oppressing the Israelites for twenty years.  She told him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor.  I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'" (Judges 4:6-7 NIV)  Barak’s reply was not what you would call heroic.  Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." (Judges 4:8 NIV)  Deborah was clearly taken aback and it seems clear she did not think Barak to be particularly manly.  "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." (Judges 4:9 NIV)  In other words, a woman will be a better man than you!  Not exactly a politically correct way of looking at this but certainly the way such cowardice in men was viewed three thousand years ago.  Men were supposed to fight for their towns and the women and children, not the women fight in their place.

One of the difficulties inherent in exploring what the Bible has to say about what men are to be like is that much of the time “men” is used in a generic way and really means “people”.  It is hard sometimes to know if certain passages are really about men or more addressing both men and women.  There are a few times though that the Bible specifically addresses men and just men.  In Colossians 3: 19 married men are told,

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.  Literally it is, “Men, love the women…”  Of course context tells us that it is talking about husbands and wives and speaks of the marital relationship.  Men are commanded by God to love their wives no matter what and not let any disagreement make the marriage lose its atmosphere of love…at least not as far as the husband is concerned.  Later Fathers are told to be certain to not make their children miserable in how they raise them.  Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. (Colossians 3:21NIV)  There is no such command to mothers in the passage.  Clearly this is something that God sees as a critical concern.  Fathers are prone or at least have a propensity to exasperate and frustrate their children.  Perhaps it is because fathers are not always patient with their kids or maybe it’s because men tend to expect too much of their children.  We do know and we have seen this for generations and generations, if there is a parent not on speaking terms with the children, it is far more likely to be the father than the mother.  We men can be too hard on our kids and the Bible warns men to be careful and commands fathers not to demand perfection of their children and not belittle them when they don’t live up to their expectations.

There are two verses that deal specifically with men and are not tied just to the family.  The first is multi-faceted.  Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.  (1 Corinthians16:13-14 NIV)  What is translated here, “be men of courage” is literally, “be manly”.    The four parts to this or if you like, the four points of manhood are pretty simple.  1.  Be vigilant; be awake; be attentive.  Don’t let the devil catch you off-guard, realize when you are being tempted.  Pay attention to what God is doing.  Know when He is speaking to you and recognize what is of God and what is of Satan.  2.  Stand firm in the faith.  This is much different than just standing firm.  Sometimes men play the fool by being stubborn.  “Oh, I don’t need to look at the directions!”  “It’s my way or the highway!”  This is not a command to always getting your way and if you don’t, pouting or throwing a tantrum.  God wants men to make the Bible their roadmap for life and not drift from it because it makes you or someone else uncomfortable.  Don’t be a spiritual wimp.  Stand for what is right and don’t be swayed by what is wrong.   3. Be strong.  Literally it is a command to keep growing strong.  Be a powerful force for good…for God’s good.  Take hold of the power you have with the Spirit in you and make the world better because you work hard at it.  Fight evil.  Take the devil’s strongholds by storm.  Do not let any addiction or unholy habit have control over you because you are a man with Christ living in you.  4.  Do everything in love.  Or literally, “in love do all your things.”  We men struggle to behave loving.  We can think loving and we can profess loving but to do loving is sometimes a great pitfall for us.  It is no accident that God makes love action a critical point of emphasis for men.  The Bible tells us that if we don’t act in loving ways, we are just a loud and obnoxious man.  Love is the hallmark of a man of God.  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  (1 John 4:7-8 NIV)

There is one more verse to consider as you and I close this discussion on manhood.  I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.  (1 Timothy 2:8 NIV)  I heard someone recently argue that it is men who are almost always the ones shooting up malls and workplaces and that it is men who commit the most violent crimes and she is right.  The first known sin after the one committed by Adam and Eve was the flaming rage of Cain against his brother that ended in murder.  We must face this fact about men.  Many men have a tough time with anger and struggle to keep their temper.   God says that His men must become great at praying and get rid of that temper that leads to anger and arguing.  We have all heard of churches splitting apart and collapsing in a heap because of angry arguments.  For men in particular, anger is a warning light and arguments are a siren that you aren’t praying enough.  You do not get angry because someone treated you badly or someone is rude or you have been offended.  You get mad because you do not pray enough to make you into God’s sort of man.  I hear men cursing about things and you do too and it is not a sign of male toughness; it is a sure sign that there is no real strength or backbone in that man.  Men are not made to get their way.  Men are made to pray and always…always…God gets His way.  It is then that the world becomes a better place because men of prayer walked upon it. 

Reality in Love

1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV

Love is patient, love is kind.

What Is The “Look of Love”?

Recently I was working in a classroom that I had been in a number of times before.  They were invited to visit another class at the school to see the exhibits the students of that class had made of different aspects of ancient civilization.  For example, one student made a model of the Parthenon, another a terracotta soldier of ancient China; others exhibited papier Mache maps of Rome or the pyramids of Giza.  Each student had an exhibit to share and explain and they were all exited to make their presentations to the kids of our class.  Before I brought our kids in the classroom though, I poked my head in to check and see if they were ready for us.  About three months before I had worked in that same class as a substitute teacher one day and as soon as I looked into room, several kids shouted, “It’s Mr. Walkup!”  Immediately the class started cheering.  Embarrassed, I ducked back out and returned to the class I was bringing to see them.  I was not prepared for that sort of reception and I think the teacher in the class was a little taken aback by their reaction to seeing me.  I had only been with them one day and it was shocking that they remembered my name and I was overwhelmed by their response.  That same day, I was talking with someone and that person told me I’m not very nice and that others are intimidated by me.  Once again I was stunned and left speechless.  I cannot say that I have ever encountered a day quite like that one where I faced such a wide swing of the pendulum and it was difficult knowing just how to process the feedback I received in just the span of six hours or so.

There is something to be said for honest if brutal evaluations.  Sometimes it isn’t pleasant hearing what others really think of us and it can happen that we are wildly surprised to find out just how loved and respected we are.   It cuts both ways.  We are loved and we sin.  We may not like what God has to say about us but He is honest in His evaluation of us.  The Bible insists that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, He means it. (See Romans 3: 23) It is worth noting that when the great man of faith Isaiah met God for the first time, he was not prepared for what he saw in himself.  "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."  (Isaiah 6:5 NIV)  Was this an aberration or how it really is when God comes upon us?  Whether it was Moses or David or the Apostle Paul, we have this same sort of experience; the realization that what is within is terribly ugly and corrupted.  It may have taken the witnessing of a miracle by Jesus to get the Apostle Peter’s attention but nonetheless Peter also upon figuring out who Jesus actually was awakened to his own sinfulness.  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8 NIV)  Paul the Apostle expresses the thoughts of all who have ever met God personally.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing.  (Romans 7:18-19 NIV)  There is a freeing discovery when we come to Christ our Savior that we are thoroughly riddled with sin and on our own can’t get out from under it.

You cannot fully appreciate just what kindness God has shown you to die for your salvation unless you meet Him.  Until you do, forgiveness of sin is only a casual determination of God to brush off what petty mistakes you have made.  “Ah, that’s good dude.”  But that is not how it is with us or with Christ.  God did not die on the Cross because we have just “blown it” a few times.  He did so because our sin is thoroughly wicked and completely ingrained in us; it took the violence of crucifixion to remove it all from us.  When we think of what Jesus had to endure to take out of us our sin, it cannot be fully realized without really meeting Jesus.  It is like trying to describe the skill needed to play professional hockey without seeing it firsthand or being told how smart a mathematician is if one has never tried to solve even a simple algebra equation.    When Jesus comes to us in the way He does, we come to grips with how kind He is to die for our salvation.  The Bible, in its magnificently understated way, gives us a hint of it.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV)

Let us for a moment do some theological math.  Or perhaps it would be better stated that we are going to think about this matter of God’s love using the logic of the Bible to shape our conclusion.  In discussing love, the Bible says that, “Love is patient, love is kind.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4 NIV)  The verb that is translated “patient” describes putting up with a lot or continually not letting upsetting matters trouble you.  Kind is a great way of translating this second quality of love, that love is constantly doing what is compassionate.  One way to look at the entire passage on love and in particular these two characteristics is to replace “love” with God.  The Bible tells us that in the equation, God is love or God equals love.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8 NIV)  But then we also see this point repeated later in the same chapter.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  (1 John 4:16 NIV)  It is not a stretch to make1 Corinthians 13 and in particular verse 4 all about God.  God is patient.  He does not let our constant sinning upset Him.  God is kind.  He deals with us gently like a loving mother or father would a reckless and misbehaving young child.

Let’s look at one example from the Gospels to get an idea of just what sort of person God is.  In John 8, Jesus addressed a crowd that had gathered to worship and discuss the Scriptures at the Temple.  Some of them accused Jesus of being demon possessed.  They tried to insult Jesus by calling Him a “Samaritan” which in their minds was about as bad a slam as it got.  Finally, they became so enraged with Him that they in a mad rush grabbed stones off the ground to kill Jesus.  Our Lord’s response was perfectly aligned with patience and kindness.   Rather than call ten thousand angels to decimate the entire crowd, He quietly slipped away.  At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (John 8:59 NIV)  The patience of God at this moment was astounding.  Do you remember the fire coming down upon Sodom or the plague of the firstborn on the Egyptians.  In an instant Christ could have wrecked everyone there but He didn’t.  He quietly faded into the background.  How many of us, if we had the absolute power our Lord did at that moment would have been so kind.  Consider just how painful it is for Jesus to watch us sin, be lazy and uninspired, disregard His commands and priorities, pay no attention to Him as He waits for us to do what is right.  How much does God put up with you and me?  Are we not ten times worse than those Israelites who were blinded by Satan and trapped by the Devil’s plot?  We know who He is and we still ignore Him!

Some may have thought I was too hard on Abraham recently with my critique of his faith.  Take a look at one incident that tells us a great deal about Abraham’s patience and kindness.  Genesis 13 provides a synopsis of just how Abraham’s mind worked.  His brother’s son Lot had traveled with him from Haran to Canaan and settled with him there.  Abraham had become extremely wealthy and acquired vast amounts of livestock and gold.  It seems apparent that he shared his good fortune with Lot.  Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. (Genesis 13:5 NIV)  One would think that Lot would be grateful for what his uncle had done for him and do everything he could to stand behind him but such was not the case.  But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.  And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot.  (Genesis 13:6-7 NIV)  This conflict between Abraham’s employees and Lot’s became so bad that the only solution seemed to be to go their separate ways.  So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.  Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left." (Genesis 13:8-9 NIV)  It is critical to note that it was not just the employees who were arguing, Lot was quarreling with Abraham.  How was this possible?  How could Lot have had one single word of disagreement with his benefactor?  All he owned was due to Abraham and his generosity and kindness!  Is it conceivable that Lot would have for even a moment let his staff fight with Abraham’s workers?  Would not someone who had been so blessed by another have done all he could to have supported and stood loyally for that one’s cause?  Lot did not and it seems there was not an ounce of gratitude in Lot for all Abraham had done for him.  Selfishly he stood his ground and demanded that Abraham give him his way.  Finally Abraham could not take the tension between them any longer and rather than force Lot out, he gave him the option of where to settle.  He did not demand his right to the best land.  He simply in kindness and patience made peace with his nephew and gave to him whatever he wanted.

Jesus put it this way.  "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'   But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42 NIV)  This is perhaps the most elegant and practical teaching on patience and kindness you will find in any book ever written.  What if, with God and all His power and goodness living in you, you take one of these commands and look for an opportunity this week to practice it.  God will give you the opportunity if you are willing to be His disciple.  Many would not take up this challenge, but perhaps you will.