What is God saying in disasters?

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.” ’ ” Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. (Exodus 9:13–21)

My imagination could be way off, but for some reason, this warning seems to fit some of the stuff that is happening in today’s world. The weather and many events are as if God is saying, “See my power? Pay attention for no one is safe unless you are listening to me.”

The words ‘innocent victims’ gets tossed around too, but is anyone innocent? The Bible is clear on that matter: “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22–23) Certain some are worse than others, some are closer to innocent than to evil, but no one hits the godly target apart from faith in Jesus Christ.

That said, God has every right to judge the world just as He had the right to put Egypt through many plagues. He tested and found that some paid attention and many did not listen.

Yesterday I watched two fictional crime stories on television. They had the effect of prompting prayer for those who actually are involved in crime, either as perpetuators or as victims. I prayed that they would not only hear God but fear Him, pay attention to Him, that their conscience would be alive and they would realize their need for His mercy and grace.

Personal tragedy does this. A death in the family makes us think of our own mortality. An accident on the highway, even a minor one, makes us realize how vulnerable we are. An illness does the same. Everyone wants to be healthy, wealthy, and wise but it is in sickness, poverty, and foolish mistakes that we realize our need for God — or therefore we should. He is our only safe shelter. 

Jesus, I know that no matter what happens to me, You use it for good, to make me more like You. Even death, for it is in dying that the transformation is complete:
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2–3)
For that reason and hope, the news, even the worst news and the nastiest events, should therefore turn my heart toward You and listen to You — and do what You say. 

Because He says “I will…"

The Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. (Exodus 6:1–7)

Sometimes it’s the small things. We drove to the registry office to renew my driver’s license, a place usually full of people. My husband prayed for ‘no line up’ and as we pulled up, there was an empty parking space at the door. He thanked God, we went in, and not a customer in the place. Again, we thanked God.

Sometimes it is bigger things. Sometimes we don’t get to see the answers. Yet look again at the words of the God who hears: “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.”

Then He told Moses what to say: “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

Unlike all communication with God, He told them what He was going to do before He did it, and He did this because of who He is and what He promised to do. Therefore, He did it. This is the same God that I cry out to and can rely on, not because my prayers have any power but because He is who He is and will do what He says He will do. He is totally faithful to who He is and that does not depend on who I am.

Do You promise parking places? Not that I can find, but You do promise to be good to me, to take care of my needs, to grant answers that will bring You glory and build my faith. You told the Israelites that You would delivery from slavery. It didn’t look possible, but You did it. Therefore, I trust You, and if the parking lot had been full or the lineups long, maybe in Your great love and wisdom, You decided I needed a walk or a rest!


Opposition = Warfare?

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” (Exodus 5:3–9)

The past couple of weeks have been difficult. Monday, I felt good. Yesterday I aced my driver’s medical, but by supper, I could not stop coughing. In the middle of the night, cough medication kicked in so some sleep helped, but I feel yucky this morning and wonder if this virus is ever going away.

Reading the above passage reminds me to consider spiritual warfare. Not all illness is a slam from the dark enemies of God, but the way this came on and the effect it has had on my prayer life has me hearing the devil cheering. I’ve not been praying. Not only that, any efforts to pray seem to increase my sense of helplessness. I struggle to focus on talking to God.

Not that there isn’t anything to pray about. The news headlines invite prayer. Events in the lives of other Christians invite prayer. But as soon as anything comes to mind, it seems more weight is added to this illness and the focus to pray turns into “I need to sleep” or some other distraction. For this, God gives me another “therefore” passage:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:10–13)

Before the virus hit, I had been praying and seeing startling answers. People’s lives were changing, including my own. Then, for about two weeks, all interest in prayer vanished. Is a virus one of the enemy’s ways to lay on a heavier load to keep God’s people from the sacrifice of prayer? Seems this is so.  

Even as these thoughts tell me to not to let anything keep me from talking with God, I still don’t ‘feel’ like praying — and I can hear the Holy Spirit say, ‘do it anyway’ knowing that I need the Him to obey God and to be enabled to fight the lies of the enemy.

Jesus, prayer is hard work, not like slavery to sin but living for selfish comfort often seems much easier than it does to take prayer seriously. I need You to fill me and help me get out of this listless and unfocused mindset that only wants to sleep.

Skilled or not — I must trust God

But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” (Exodus 4:10–17)

How many times have I answered God with, “But I don’t know what to say”? Do I really think that God cannot give me the words? Or am I more worried about knowing them ahead of time? I  even tend to ‘rehearse’ as if that is how He teaches me.

Not too long ago, someone came with a prayer request. As I prayed, words came to mind. When finished, the other person said, “Oh thank you. Now I know what to do.” I didn’t tell her what to do, just prayed what came to mind. I’ve no idea what happened in that conversation except the words prayed were what God wanted her to hear.

So simple. It was not blurted out or random and unrelated, but somehow the Holy Spirit took the words and used them. Not telling me ahead of time what those words should be was wise. I would likely have turned them into a boast, “Look at what I said” and even a habit for the next prayer request.

The neat part of the above OT dialog is that God reminded Moses that He made his mouth. If He wanted mute, He could do that. When He wanted words, He could do that too. The trouble with Moses is that he rated his speaking skills on his own ability instead of God's power.

Another neat thing is that God went to where Moses was. The man didn’t have faith that God could supply what he didn’t have, so He pulled Aaron out as one who could speak well, as if that was needed, but made it clear that the words he said would not come from that man’s ability to speak either. The words would come from God.

This passage speaks to me not just about words but about anything God wants me to do. I go for a driver’s test this morning and am nervous about passing it. From this encounter Moses had with God, I can trust God. If He wants me to pass it, I will. If not, He has good reasons.

Jesus, You give me Yourself and Your Spirit. That is enough. Rather than ‘send someone else’ just keep reminding me of Your wisdom, grace, and power. If You want something, nothing can stop it. If You don’t, my power or lack thereof remain helpless, no matter my skill-level.

Slavery or freedom?

The people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. 
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. (Exodus 1:7–14)

The OT story of slavery in Egypt is a real-life metaphor for being in bondage to sin. This image is not sufficient in that the people of Israel choose to trust their own ways rather than trusting God, but it does point to the losses and damage that sin does. One commentator points out that there is “no such exhausting toil as that of working under the hot Egyptian sun, with the feet in water, in an open cutting, where there can be no shade, and scarcely a breath of air, from sunrise to sunset, as forced laborers are generally required to do.” 

He adds that a recent governor of Egypt, Mehemet Ali lost 20,000 laborers out of 150,000 in the construction of the Alexandrian Canal towards the middle of the present century. Other sources estimate that there are 50 million people in this world living in some sort of slavery. If that number included slavery to sin, it would be much larger.

The beginning of Exodus spells out the consequence of fear in this new king who had no understanding of the history of Israel living in his country. He only knew that his position of power was threatened. In his mind, the only solution was to overpower the threat. It is my observation that those insecure leaders of today are much like this one — when in fear, find a bigger stick.

In the NT, the multiplication of Christians became a threat in the Roman world. Many were persecuted, ran out of their homes, even burned at the stake. The sinful desire to maintain power and control overrides trusting God who is far superior to any threat. This is true even of those who know God. The Exodus story shows how much trouble His people had with trusting Him.

Yet is slavery to sin worth it? Is the ability to run my own life preferable to trusting God with it? Jesus died so that I could be set free from a power greater than my ability to say NO. Choosing slavery is foolish. Every time I fall into that trap, the more lovely God's grace appears. 

Jesus, thanks for saving me from a lifetime in Egypt and for setting my course to Your promised land.

UPDATE: This nasty virus invaded January 5 and is still trying to defeat me. Mostly I eat a bit, nap, and have no energy, but did a bit of sewing today so that is hopeful. Hubby is not 100% but far better than I am. Since I’ve not had flu since 1996, feeling sorry for myself is another challenge. God bless those who have brought food and are praying.

Funerals are important…

 

Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ” And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. (Genesis 50:1–14)

This passage is about grief and the extent of a family to mourn the loss of their father. In my life right now, it touches me two ways. One is that two of our friends died this month. One funeral happened and it was an incredible blessing to review the life of a man who loved and served God. The second one will be later, but it will happen. This man’s life also honored the Lord, and the event will also.

However, many deaths have the notation “No funeral” in the obituary. This is sad. It is usually the desire of the person who died, perhaps thinking it saves the family costs, or pain, or whatever, yet even the least loved family member will be missed and a funeral gives the living an opportunity to say goodbye, and to think about their own lives and deaths. Just a quick “he’s gone, move on” avoids the importance of pondering life.

The second way I’m touched is because I’ve been thinking about my own demise. Being ill does that. Yesterday was sleep, eat, sleep, as has been most of today. The odd thing is that my vitals are normal: pulse, blood pressure, blood oxygen, etc. but this cough will not go away and I am exhausted, with little appetite and no ambition. 

Not certain of the days ahead, the consequences could involve a funeral. Is it vain to suppose my family would mourn? I hope not. What I do want is Jesus to be glorified. The faith of the OT saints and those who currently loved and served Jesus means they are now with their Maker and enjoying eternal life. A funeral, done well, should let the living know that Jesus died for their sins, was buried, and rose again — to give us eternal life. The burying place does not matter, nor does the way I’ve lived or served God. What matters is that Jesus lives and that because He is alive, I will also live with Him forever.

Jesus, while illness makes me think of the end of life, You put that on my heart more than fifty years ago and granted faith to trust You — for all of this life and for what comes next. I want others to know of Your love and faithfulness, not just drop out of sight without being a witness to Your gift of eternal life.

So who is not limping?

And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh. (Genesis 32:24–32)

Jacob, the believing heir to God’s promises, continually tried to get there in his own strength and ideas. He was a strong, self-confident, clever and self-sufficient person, who was sure he could do anything. 

God had to break his human strength and wisdom so that He might give him divine strength and wisdom. Even in losing this wrestling match, he still hung on for a blessing, knowing he was now utterly helpless without the healing, quickening, protecting power of his Master. This sense of total debility and utter defeat is now the secret of his power with God. As Paul later wrote: 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)

Jacob also knew that God would bless his ernest pleas in his helplessness. Even as the wrenched tendons and muscles of his strongest body part healed, he was left with a limp that revealed God had overcome his self-will. This was vital and even many years later, the people would not eat that part, showing the impact of this event.

Therefore, to this day, all who yield to the One who calls us have a limp. We cannot live the Christian lives in our own strength. I chuckle at those who say our faith is a crutch — of course it is — for who of us is not limping? And if we are not, then God is yet to be encountered.

Jesus, my self-will is a sneaking and persistent hindrance to fully trusting You. I try to do all the right things, think the best thoughts, and yet it is only when I admit my utter helplessness that You come to my aid. Even during this sickness, I’ve learned much about the bane of thinking I can do this, but I cannot. I need You for everything, every moment, and must always be willing to admit that I still limp.