Cause and Effect

If I eat too much salt, my feet swell. If I watch violent movies, I might have nightmares. Today’s reading reminds me that God is not punishing me, only showing me the consequences of foolish choices. The world and the human psyche work in certain ways. He knows that and tells us to live accordingly. He is not saying ‘My way or the highway’ but ‘do this and live well’ because He wants the best for us. The devotion writer puts it this way:

If a man eats unsuitable food, he will have indigestion. An ignorant person may say that it was the wrath of God that brought on his indigestion, but we who understand the laws of health know that his indigestion is simply the result of the unsuitable food he has eaten. Similarly the sickly spiritual condition of so many Christians is not, as they sometimes think, a direct infliction of God’s displeasure but is simply and only the necessary consequence of the unsuitable and indigestible spiritual food on which they have been feeding.

Good parents think like this. If we know the ‘rules’ of nutrition and the effects of suitable food, we feed our kids a balanced diet, not candy, pop, and potato chips. They might want those things and some children throw temper tantrums at the checkout when mom will not grant them a treat from the shelves beside the till, but the child who trusts mom’s judgment is okay with a loving NO. This is how I am supposed to respond to the will of God, even the parts that restrict my I-wants and tell me that I cannot indulge. Does He not know what is best for His creation?

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:1–6)

Of course His knowledge is too wonderful for me and I cannot attain it. My IQ and all the advice and research done in the world does not even come close to the intimate knowledge of God concerning every person on earth. He knows what I need and knows what will harm me. My part is like the child who trusts mom when she says NO.

We left on holidays just over a week ago. The Lord put it in my head to stop eating desserts and other sugary food during this time. I have a sweet tooth that I blame on habit; growing up on a farm, we always had dessert. However, I sensed this was God's idea and good for me. The surprise? Despite eating in restaurants and lots of visuals with sweet stuff, I have not had any desire to eat it. This is the power of God for my good.

The same principle helps with shopping. We are at a location where prices of everything we see is half or less than what we pay at home. Besides that, it all looks good, appealing to my delight in well-designed whatevers. However, the Holy Spirit nudges me constantly regarding need, never mind the size of my suitcase. His desire for my good does not include adding more stuff when He now has me in a stage of simplifying life. I’m to be purging, not collecting or hoarding — and this too is for my well-being. He wants me to guard my wallet as well as my waistline.

PRAY: In this place, temptations abound. Yet I realize Jesus, that Your Spirit can keep me contented with obeying You, regardless of what gets dangled before me. Besides, You are replacing anything I might covet with other wonders, like deer in the backyard, squirrels playing tag under the trees, birds of all colors singing to You, and answers to prayers for seemingly impossible situations. You are almighty God, yet You know and care about even my thoughts and are always guiding me because You want the best for me — me, a sinner saved by grace. Such a wonder!

 

Choices and Consequences

 

READ 1 Samuel 5–10

In today’s world, failure to see cause and effect is common. Not so in the days of Samuel, at least with the Philistines, enemies of Israel. They had taken the Ark of God from God’s people and recognized that this was the cause of affliction that then happened:

The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” (1 Samuel 5:6–7)

They sent the ark to another city, Gath, but “after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.” They sent it to Ekron, but the people cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” They called their leaders to send it back to Israel “that it may not kill us and our people” for there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. (5:8–12)

They knew why they had been struck, and their method of sending it back settled any doubt . . . “send it off and let it go its way and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land . . . then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.” (6:8–9)

They did this test after realizing the power of God when their idol made of stone fell on its face two times before the ark. That knowledge is missing today. We hear all kinds of assumptions about cause and effect or no connections between the two are made at all, as if life is random and God is not involved.

The Israelites also knew otherwise. They realized that their own worship of idols was bringing trouble into their lives so “the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.” (7:3–4) However, their devotion didn’t last. When Samuel grew old and his sons failed to properly take on his responsibilities, the people wanted a king like the other nations. Samuel was not happy. He prayed . . .

And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them . . . . And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (8:5–9; 18)

This answer reveals how the people needed to be warned about cause and effect. Their decision to run their own lives the same way as the pagans around them may have messed with their ability to see what would happen because of it. Lack of faith has consequences.

Samuel did anoint a king and God gave this new king a boost of His Spirit and a new heart (10:6; 9). Even though Saul was handsome and the people were excited, there were some who said, “How can this man save us?” and they despised him and gave him no support. (10:24–27)

Would support have made a difference? Would these people pray for their king (like the NT commands) or would they go along with his disobedience to God? Would they see the errors of his ways and recognize the consequences? Or would they be like today’s people who select a leader because they don’t want to be led by the Lord? And because he or she looks and sounds good, failing to recognize that even leaders can fail to see the future results of their choices and actions?

Lord Jesus, all this makes me realize how often I act on impulse without consulting You or thinking ahead to how my choices will affect my life and the lives of others. I don’t want to make the same errors described in this passage and carry on as if I know better than You. Grant me the grace to stop and think far more often and more seriously than I do. Amen.

 

Duh, what happened?

 

2 Chronicles 19–20; Zechariah 4; John 7; Revelation 8

Someone once said there are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, “What happened?”

I’d like to be in the first batch, or at least have a sound knowledge of events like the second group, but the third group sadly seems to be increasing in numbers.

This is not new. King Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years in Judah at the time God’s people were divided into two kingdoms (873–849 BC). This man did good things but also alternated with colossal blunders. He went to the Lord for advice and succeeded but then ignored the Lord and failed — all through his life. He did not learn from his mistakes. Was he like many today who fail to look back and connect cause and effect?

It happened during the time of Christ too. In John 7, the first thing I notice is that Jesus does not make what He is doing known to the world and sometimes not even to His disciples or his family. In other words, I cannot always know ‘what happened’ or why.

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. (John 7:1–10)

A few verses later, Jesus was criticized by the Jews for “teaching when he had never studied” and Jesus told them how He knew truth from God and how we also can be in that group that accurately know what is going on.

“My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” (John 7:16–18)

The key to knowing when God is speaking is obedience. Do what I do know is from Him and He will tell me more. This pattern can be thwarted only by seeking my own glory instead of God’s glory.

Jesus also says that they didn’t ‘get it’ because they were judging by appearances rather than by right judgment, by what they observed rather than by the Spirit of God. I can know what God is up to by listening to Him rather than insisting on ‘what looks good to me.’

The Pharisees heard Jesus say that He was “going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am going you cannot come.” Again, that threw them plunk into the third category — totally clueless about what He meant, but they were not alone. The people were divided over Him, partly because they didn’t get the facts right. They argued about where He was born and where the Messiah was supposed to be born, not realizing the answers were in their Scriptures. How many of us are like this? Instead of searching out facts, many tend to believe speculations.

Jesus stumped them again when He said: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” (John 7:38) They didn’t know what was happening because the Holy Spirit had not opened their minds to the meaning of those OT Scriptures.

This blindness to what is going on shows up again as theologians try to interpret Revelation’s descriptions of future events, such as angels blowing trumpets and destruction that follows. My hope is that anyone experiencing these things will be alert and at least know one thing about this description: God is calling people  to repentance and to receive His offer of eternal life through faith in His Son.

APPLY: It would be wonderful to be a person that can make things happen yet I must leave that in God’s hands. Being aware depends on what He reveals but also on my obedience and desire for His glory. I certainly don’t want to be so wrapped up in doing my own thing and making my own assumptions that I am clueless about what is going on. I need to keep asking questions, such as: Is this pandemic just a glimpse of what God’s wrath will be like as described in Revelation 8? And I must trust the Lord to give me whatever answers I need to know.