A Word Picture

We are all hungry for something and seek to be satiated. And by this, of course, I am speaking of our souls and spirits. Approval, pleasure, significance, security, success, forgiveness, love. But what is our source of sustenance?

Two very contrasting passages arrested my attention today while studying a different topic. Here they are...

1.Speaking of the Israelites after they were delivered from the Egyptians and were wandering in the desert, David says in Psalm 106: 13-15,

They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel,but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

It is the last statement that sends conviction and fear shooting straight through my heart. I have felt leanness in my soul before and it is shallow and painful and leaves me aching. The picture here is quite clear. The people of Israel made the choice to ignore God and push ahead with their own agenda. In doing so, they "lusted" after other gods and challenged the Almighty God's authority. And what was His response? He gave them what they wanted. The consequence was a lean and hungry soul. This is not a picture of peace and joy and fulfillment. This is not a picture of communion and intimate relationship. This is a picture of a willful child enduring the consequences of their poor choices. Ouch.

2. And now David offers us this refreshing picture from Psalm 37: 3-5 and part of 7.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart...rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...

Simply reading these words refreshes my spirit and gives me hope. The picture here is one of peace and joy and fulfillment. This is a picture of sweet communion and intimate relationship. The end result of committing to this road is a satisfied, nourished soul. Rest.

So, why do I so often travel the desert road with the people of Israel? I do not desire a leanness of soul, but by my actions, by pursuing lesser things, that is what I'm telling God. I think too often I am afraid of where God will lead me, not because I have any reason not to trust Him, but because my faith is weak. The pull of the world is strong and ever present. It is here and now and loud and colorful. It is immediate.

Today I was startled by a theme I saw in several scripture passages. It is repeated in part of Psalm 37 - "wait patiently for Him." Wow. God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt, but things were not immediately easy or clear for them. Instead of waiting for God who promised to be there for them, they moved ahead without Him. That's what I do too. Maybe I'm impatient. Maybe I'm afraid of not knowing what lies ahead. Maybe I don't like being still and quiet. Maybe I need to trust God's leading a little more and "dwell" with Him a little longer and "feed on his faithfulness" instead of my insecurities.

When God asks us to delight in Him, He is not being arrogant. He knows we hunger, and he knows what will nourish us. Him. He designed us for relationship with Him, so it only makes sense that the greatest desires of our heart would be fulfilled by our Creator. Anything else will bring a leanness to our souls.

This is a word picture that will stay with me a long time: a leanness in the desert or satisfied delight in the land of God.

A Jealous God

Many who argue against Christianity take issue with the Ten Commandments saying that Christianity is restrictive and close minded and rule oriented. They feel confined and judged by what they perceive as a God who imposes morality and rules without love. I'm sure as fallible people we, the church body, contribute to this misunderstanding of God. We are not always a perfect picture of Christ's love and forgiveness. Unfortunately, as believers we get sucked into this type of thinking too. However, in thinking this, we miss one of the key aspects of God's nature, His desire for relationship. We miss knowing God as God.

In discussing some of these issues in her book, No Other Gods, Kelly Minter makes this statement:

And so it is with this fundamental piece of God being God, and God being the only God. When this gets out of whack in our belief system, the entire structure falls apart, the chain reaction affecting things you wouldn't imagine. It's like trying to run or reach or bend with a bad back. It's painful, and eventually impossible. If God is not God, if he is not the only God in our lives, then his commands and principles and truths become matters of suggestion that we're free to savor or toss at our whims.

God is God, and He is the only God. We know this, but we do not always live it. But if we do believe it and live it, this revolutionizes our lives. It goes back to the first of the ten commandments. Too often we only read the shortened version. But I think it is important to see the full context to understand the nature of God and His desires for us. So, bare with me a minute. Here is it is from Exodus 20: 3-6.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

It is in our sinful nature to latch onto the part about jealousy and punishing and the consequences of disobeying. At the core we are still little children balking at our boundaries. But if we read it again and examine it, there is more to the story. A jealous God is a God who desires relationship, not simply obedience. God understands us; He knows what we need. If He really is the one, true God and if He is really offering us life and love and forgiveness, He does deserve our undivided attention and devotion and commitment. He is offering us relationship and is showing us the way to succeed in that relationship.

Look at a marriage. It is only successful if both of the parties are open, honest, committed, and faithful. The minute one of them begins to seek intimacy or fulfillment, emotional or otherwise, with someone other than their spouse, there is a break down in the marriage. As it is with God. Love cannot be in word alone; it must have legs. Service and Love go hand in hand. God knows this and commands it. At the end of the first commandment He asks us to love Him AND keep His commandments. This isn't about legalism and a list of rules to follow. This is about a love that influences your heart, thought, and action.

In Mark 7:6, Christ quotes from the Old Testament saying, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."

Ouch. It makes my heart hurt to read this. I've seen it in relationships before, I've experienced it. What makes me ache all the more is to know that I've done this to God. Loved Him with my words alone, while my actions speak volumes about my love of myself, this world, and paltry pleasures that leave me dissatisfied.

Being a Christian isn't about following rules or being good. It is about entering into a relationship with the Almighty Creator of the Universe. He asks us to be faithful, to serve and worship and love only Him. Makes sense. So, when God commands us to have no other gods before Him, He is asking us to trust that He is our God and trust that He is enough.

This, I think, is the real reason people balk at Christianity, balk at the Ten Commandments. We want it to be about us. We want to think that everything is relative, but Truth is not relative. God is God; there is no room for anything else. It must be the foundation of everything we believe. By constructing for ourselves other gods, we carve out for ourselves a little piece of this world that is ours. It is something we can control, something we understand. It makes us feel good about ourselves, for a while anyway. When we bow to the sovereign God of creation, we acknowledge our weakness and our need. But the beauty of this submission to Him, is that we receive His unabashed, unending love. Lavish. Rich. Pure. Faithful. True. Holy. Just. That love I crave. That love I need. So, when God commands me to have no other gods before Him, I accept that, not at a limitation, but as God's provision for my life. He designed us for relationship with Him. There is no other god for me but the one, true God. Anything else is a hollow substitute.

Christianity isn't about rules and morality and being good.

It is about Love.

"Jesus said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
This is the first and great commandment."

No Other Gods

Some friends and I started a long distance book club. The first book we are reading, entitled No Other Gods by Kelly Minter, has struck a cord with me. She has a very conversational writing style that is personal and not so preachy. You know she understands what she is writing about because she has experienced it too.

I'm only in chapter two, but as I read it last night and listened to my sweet husband snore softly, I felt God tugging on my spirit. "Who or what do you worship? What treasure is stored up in your heart?" Hmmmm. Not so easy to answer if I'm honest with myself. Sure, I'm a Christian, so this should be easy, no? The trouble is that how our faith plays out in real life, not on paper, can often look different. How I spend my time, what I think about, the words that I speak, the interests that I pursue, and the relationships in my life are the real indicators of my heart priorities. Is God apart of my everyday life, even the details? Today, honestly, I don't feel very holy. I'm tired, my back hurts, my children's needs are wearing on my strength, and my housework is a long line of 'to do's' that will never end. Nothing in all that feels spiritual. I don't feel spiritual. How does worship fit into this life? How does spiritual treasure influence the life of a woman stuck in this world? I work on this everyday. It isn't easy.

One of the verses she referenced in passing struck me.

"And do not become idolaters as were some of them.
As it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.'" I Cor. 10:7

I had to go back to Exodus 32 to see the big picture because with only this verse you might ask, is it idolatry to play and enjoy life? Of course, the answer is no. But that is not what was happening. The Israelites has constructed golden idols to worship instead of God and were essentially partying at the feet of the idols. Worshiping the idols and pursuing all things related had consumed the thoughts, hearts, and actions of the people. There was no room for their powerful, sovereign God in their lives.

And so it happens to us, to me.

Worship God. Serve God. You cannot have one without the other. In my everyday, unholy-feeling life I must worship and serve God. How? Today I don't have answers that fall out in practical terms, but I have the Truth and to that I will cling. Abide.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:34

My house is a mess, I haven't showered yet today, my kids and husband need me, my head hurts, and all I want to do is curl up and take a nap. In the midst of all this, I know my greatest longing right now is to be known and loved by my Heavenly Father. And so I will abide in Him.

God Laughs

Call the wild, strike the strings
Bagpipes blare in the open field.
Child run wild, praise the Lord!
This is what life is for.
Flowers bow, sun beats down,
Rivers flow,Creation knows
It's time to dance and God laughs.
10.96

Scar Tissue

I've read it hundreds of times and so have you.

"He restores my soul." Psalm 23:3

This time when I read it, the significance of this statement crashed into me and has been wrecking me ever since.

If He restores my soul, then I NEED restoring.
If He restores my soul, I CAN be healed.
If He restores my soul, He SEES all that needs restoring.
If He restores my soul, He must love me tremendously.

And then an image popped in my mind. Scar tissue. There is nothing soft or smooth or attractive about scar tissue. While it marks a place of healing, it is normally hard and ugly. I have it, you have it, we all are marked with it. It is one of the great miracles of the human body, the ability to heal. But restoration? We don't have that ability. We can not restore ourselves to wholeness. Not our bodies, not our souls.

Our souls are hardened with scar tissue reminding us of the pain and hardship and trials we have faced in this life. Hardened. But God promises us restoration. Wholeness.

He softens us to receive His love.
He heals the hurt so that we can see past the pain and accept Him.
He restores our broken places leaving us free of shame.

Through His power and love, I am restored.

And I can say with David,
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. "
Psalm 23:6

Hope

Such a powerful, tenuous thing. I really got to thinking about this on Sunday night at our small group Bible study. We are watching a video series, and I have to say, a lot of the things the speaker says provoke me. While I believe his heart is good, I think he is missing the boat. But that is another topic altogether. What bothered me this week was that in trying to make a point about how our faith needs to be relevant to our lives today, he completely and totally discounted hope as a significant factor in our Christian lives. What he missed is that hope is what makes our faith relevant.

You can't read the Psalms without encountering powerful messages about Hope. The whole Old Testament in fact is geared toward the hope of a coming Christ and restored relationship with God. Read the New Testament. It is infused with hope. Faith, Hope, and Love. (I Cor. 13:13) They are not separate entities; they are entwined in eternity. God's Word is Truth. He is Love. He gives us Faith. He offers us Hope. Our faith in God is dead without Hope. It is one of the things that makes Christianity unique. The hope of eternity. The hope of the full restoration of all things. But I get ahead of myself.

Let me back up a little and offer insight with God's own words.

Psalm31:2 says...
"Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart,All you who hope in the Lord."

Psalm 33:20-22
"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You."

Psalm 34:4-5
(this one does not use the word "hope",
but the message is clear.)
"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed."

Psalm 36:7-9 (One of my personal favorites.)
"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasure. For with You is the fountain of life; In your light we see light."

I Peter 3:15
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you..."

Romans 5:5
"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

I Peter 1: 3-4
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you."

The list could go on and on and on until you've essentially read the entire Bible. As a race, humans crave hope. This world is ravaged with pain, anger, and confusion. We long for something more. God offers us Himself as the answer. In relationship with Him we find Hope. For me, that is significant and worth pursuing.