God does not require my permission

Today’s reading is another ‘finger shaking’ admonishment to let the Lord take care of me, as if He does not do this without my permission. Three examples from this week alone are related to problems regarding our new home that needed fixing. The first was with a furnace and the ‘expert’ said we needed to get a new one or spend several hundred dollars to fix it. The next person came to do something else, looked at the furnace and fixed it, adding it was a superior model and should last for another decade.

The second was a tap that ran only cold water, nothing on the hot side. The plumber wanted over $300 to fix it. The same worker who fixed the furnace fixed that problem too — without charge and in less than five minutes. I said, “You don’t have wings but you are an angel.”

The third issue was a crooked appliance we could not fix. My love of geometry felt annoyance every time I looked at it. A bathroom renovator came to make an estimate on another project and I asked him to add “straighten this fixture” to the list. He laughed, and immediately did it, no charge.

Since I believe God is involved in all things, I called him an angel too and thanked the Lord for being in the details and looking out for us — without a prayer for help or even thinking “I must turn to God with this issue.” So when someone tells me “we are very slow to learn this. When temptations come, instead of handing the battle over to the Lord we summon all our forces to fight them ourselves. We believe, perhaps, that the Lord is somewhere near, and if the worst comes to worst, He will step in to help us. But for the most part we feel that we ourselves and we only must do all the fighting” I feel a bit insulted, yet mostly that God is being insulted. He promises to take care of us, knows all things, knows our needs, and is not standing over me with baited breath waiting for my “Go for it” as if I am in charge of His life and He needs my permission for anything.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:14)

I began life with Him by the power of His Spirit, yet like the church in Galatia, this is not to say that I’ve never tried to fight my own battles without thought that God would help me or that I must now rely on the flesh, as if I’m saved by grace but now must live by works. This is the posture of many Christians. We have a proud streak and like children we think, “I can do this myself.” Or we don’t know much about God and His care so assume we need to take care of all problems ourselves.

However, when someone else is trying to change that fleshy thinking, a finger-shaking accusation is seldom appropriate or helpful. Some need a gentle reminder of God’s love and trustworthiness. Most need encouragement rather than a strong rebuke. Not every Christian is so full of themselves and their own ability that they will turn down God’s help.

The other issue is being blamed that God is not helping because I won’t let Him. Really? How long does it take to learn that I don’t rule God? Not long. My will be done not Your will? Do any Christians pray that way? Maybe telling God what to do rather than accepting what He is doing borders on such thinking, yet only when He allows strong calamities to teach me that I cannot run my own life. I want to be comfortable, but He knows what I need.

Refusals to yield to His care suggest that such resistance is coming from someone who does not know Him at all. How can we think that the One who died for all our sin before we even knew He cared, is now unable to care about any other problem we have so we must take care of them ourselves?

PRAY: Jesus, human pride has to be at the root of such ideas, and thinking everyone struggles in resistance to Your help seems to be rooted in some idea that we control what You do for us, as if You have buttons we can push. This spells an ignorance of who we are, but even more, an oblivion to who You are. You are God and I am not. I don’t keep all my promises and I don’t control much of anything. I get involved in the world, sometimes find an appeal in Satan’s lies, and my old human nature is wrong all the time. None of that is true of You. You, like a parent, help me when I am dragging my childish heels in resistance. You died for me while I was still a sinner and You live for me every moment, every day doing things to help me know You and live for You. Whether I am being ornery or being obedient — You are God.

What to do with enemies . . .

 

A week ago, I would have said I had no enemies, however that is no longer the case. Long story short, a few of our neighbors have believed things not true and are totally opposed to even listen to established facts about an issue that relates to all of us regarding safety. As a result, my hubby declared last night, “I (meaning we) are now the enemy.”

We prayed about it, slept well and this morning God whispered to me, “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.” I came downstairs, opened my Bible, and picked FIGHT from the list of words that describes who God is and/or how He acts. The very first verses were these:

(Exodus 14:14) The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

(Deuteronomy 1:30) The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

(Deuteronomy 20:4) for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

These and most of the other OT verses that pertain to God doing the fighting use a military term that means, “to be engaged in a fight such as a military conflict; carry on a fight.” Some of them focus on the odds, such as when David, a mere youth, was willing to fight with the Philistine giant and a man of war. We know what happened — God was on the side of the smaller man who trusted Him and that giant lost the battle.

Many verses tell how the people were afraid and how God would protect them because human power is nothing compared to God’s power. 2 Chronicles 20:17 says, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you” and 2 Chronicles 32:8 adds, “With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”

The psalmist also prayed for God to fight for him, but his focus included more than a physical conflict. He used a word “to assail” which includes a psychological attack when he said in Psalm 35:1, “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against (assail) those who fight against me!”

Jeremiah also used a word that means “to vigorously oppose or strongly resist another” when quoting the Lord who said, “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:19)

The NT has nothing to say about God fighting for me, only that Jesus defeated death and the fear of death on the cross. In saying, “It is finished” He ended for us all worldly conflict, contests or struggles, not to say that His followers would never be attacked. He said if people hated Him, they would hate us also. My part is to make sure their hatred is not because I am challenging them in anything but truth, goodness and justice. We are not to retaliate or fight back because the Bible is clear about who our real enemy is:

(Ephesians 6:10–13) 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.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. The passage goes on to tell me what my battle garb is: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God with prayer. The real enemy is not people but “the prince of power” who rules the world until Jesus returns. In the meantime, my role is: (1 Timothy 6:12) “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” And I am to do this whether they respond to it with open hearts or with closed fists. This is not easy. I must also be “praying at all times in the Spirit . . .  keeping alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints . . . that words may be given to me (so I will) open my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel . . . as I ought to speak.”