Older but not helpless

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. . . . Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. (Psalm 25:8–18) 

Last week a friend and I discussed the perils of getting older. We agreed that we do not appreciate any assumptions that we are helpless by those who do it and take over our chores or help without asked if we need help. It isn’t so much about pride in what we can do. We just do not want to be pushed into being helpless when God has blessed us with the ability to do things… such as stepping off a curb without falling, or making supper without burning it, or getting up off a chair without some giving us a hand up. My friend had a few more examples and remarked, “I’m not there yet.”

I recall my aging mother struggling with being helped. Her story is a bit different. She is a ‘server’ and always felt she should help others. However, she had a form of dementia that robbed her of being able to help herself, never mind others. When I told her she could help them by letting them help her, she agreed and was okay with that.

I am not much of a server and love help with what I cannot do. My hubby takes care of making our king-sized bed. He vacuums the floors and moves heavy things. He also helps in the kitchen by reaching the tall shelves and cleaning areas I cannot reach.

Some say God helps those who help themselves. Not according to Psalm 25 which says He helps those who are humble and obedient. He forgives our sin. He is gracious to those who are lonely and afflicted, distressed of heart and in trouble.

Maybe I need to take my own advice. Perhaps those who ‘assume’ I need help are servers who feel they must help others and I (and my gray hair) just happen to be handy. By letting them help me, I am helping them use their gifts, even if it makes me feel I am being put out to pasture. The psalmist understood this:

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.” O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! (Psalm 71:9–12)
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age… (Psalm 92:12–14)

The word “retirement” is not in the Bible. ‘Tired’ is — usually associated with sickness. God does not intend me to put up my feet and let others do what He tells me to do. It might be to encourage others, but it seems vital to note any personal pronouns in His commands.

Jesus, help me to be gracious to those who are unable to understand that helping sometimes means not helping. You obeyed the Father without passing the task to anyone else. I want to do the same.

Blessings for obedience?

And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ” (1 Samuel 2:27–36)

The Bible says no one can earn their salvation. However, both OT and NT are clear that there is blessing for those who obey God. This is true, not because the blessing is earned, but because living as God tells us IS the blessing. His ways cause life to be different than does living as I think best cannot do.

In other words, if I ignore God, the consequences will not be pleasing. That is why He tells me not to ignore Him. This is a bit like telling a child not to touch the stove. If that child does it anyway, the pain is not punishment; it is the result of that choice.

Eli did not discipline his sons and they did not respect him or the Lord. They suffered the consequences. As a wise preacher said, “You are free to make choices but you cannot choose the consequences.”

The matter could be about this life’s events and small or long-lasting. Or it could be about choosing to obey God with far-reaching consequences. Eli was not lost because he disobeyed or saved because he obeyed. However his life and family destiny were changed. He lost his sons and whatever heritage he may have otherwise had. How sad, and yet for little Samuel, his life was never the same… 

Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. (1 Samuel 3:9) And he did what he was told. And he was blessed.

Jesus, You remind me of regrets and second chances, of Your desire that I do what You ask for my own good, and the importance of taking You seriously. You can show mercy regarding the selfishly-made consequences, but You have the wisdom and the right to make those choices.

 

Perfect Freedom

 

While no one can earn their salvation by doing good, there is an element of pleasing God by our obedience. However, the Bible is clear — God is complete in Himself and does not need us to give Him pleasure. Consider what this verse says:

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:25)

God blesses me when I obey His Word! It begins by “looking into” which is a Greek word about bending down or stooping to examine something with care. This implies humility and a desire to see clearly. It is an attitude as well as an action.

This verse also sees the Word of God as a source of liberty or freedom. It is the “perfect law” because it is complete, sufficient, comprehensive, and without error. God uses it to tell us about Himself and how He meets all needs and gives me the desires of my heart. It is the “law of liberty” because the Holy Spirit enables me to apply its principles and thereby set me free from guilt and the bondage of sin. That is true freedom!

This verse speaks of perseverance. That means I keep at it, reading and studying, reading and receiving what it says in humility and obeying what I hear. Merely hearing, whether a daily reading or a Sunday sermon, is not enough; the blessing comes to those who act on what God says to them.

If I come to my desk feeling tired or anxious or some other negative, singing worship songs and reading the Word of God changes my mood to joy. Even when God shows me something in my life that needs to be confessed as sin, He gives that sense of well-being, a blessing from knowing that He is with me and wants the best for me. Looking into His perfect law and responding with obedience gives greater joy than anything else. And I am stunned that God uses this as a blessing; He is pleased by being able to bless me — utterly amazing!

PRAY: Jesus, may I never stop wanting to gaze intently into Your Word. May You never stop revealing any changes needed in my life and granting me grace to make those changes. Help me live more fully for You, to bring You glory and to be a blessing to those around me.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23–24)

PONDER: Read Some say that the truth hurts, but God says truth brings freedom. If Jesus, the Truth, sets me free, I am free indeed. (John 8:36) Hebrews 4:12–13 tell of His Word power to show me things I might not realize. It prevents me from trying to hide from God. Meditate on that, and keep reading and doing what it says!

 

 

A Battle Plan?

READ Judges 6–10

Gideon’s story fascinates me yet seems like a far-away illustration of God using a weak man to do the impossible. I’ve not considered it as a way to live or a plan for anyone else. Yet today, God seems to be challenging me to follow this story and go to battle with something far more powerful than I could possibly defeat.

Without going into details about the ‘enemy’ that I face, here is an outline of what happened to Gideon, a member of the clan of Manasseh one of Joseph’s sons. He was living in a time when God’s people were not obeying Him and they struggled with the Midianites who robbed them of all fruits of their labor. I can relate to that.

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (Judges 6:11–13)

Right away, Gideon questioned the Lord’s word that He was present, but the Lord replied, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” Gideon replied, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” Gideon responded, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will stay till you return.” (Judges 6:14–18)

Gideon’s offering was accepted by fire and that filled him with fear, but the Lord assured him and gave him peace. Then He told him to remove the idols his father had, then burn a second offering using them for the fuel, which Gideon did — at night because he was afraid he would be seen. When the townsmen protested, Gideon’s father surprisingly said, “If he is a god (Baal), he can contend for himself.” Then . . .

The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. (Judges 6:34–35)

God called His people to support Gideon in what he was going to do, yet this man was still not certain. Two times he asked for signs that God really wanted him to take on this enemy and two times God affirmed him, then again when he overheard words of fear in the Midian camp. With that, God dismissed Gideon’s fear and this man worshipped.

Then God reduced the size of Gideon’s army lest the people took credit for what He was going to do. He led a battle plan so simple and so ridiculous that who would think it would work, but it did.

After the Midianites were defeated, Gideon was criticized and handled that well, but he allowed himself to be put on a pedestal when he should have refused to let God’s people bow to anything or anyone except the Lord God who gave them this incredible release from their bondage to demonic idols. The rest of this reading reminds me to rely on God to finish what He starts, not depending on anyone else, even those who come after me. His people once again turned away from Him to idols, showing how much we need, and I need, the saving, keeping power of Jesus Christ.

Lord, You give me an outline of action that fits a situation in my life, an enemy I face that has taken over the life of someone I love. I’m as weak and uncertain as Gideon and need affirmation. I also need an army of others who will stand with me in prayer to win this battle. Again, I am fearful. Show me this is not just a fanciful interpretation. If it is really from You, affirm it to me and give me total clarity on what You next want from me. Enable me to be faithful and stay that way. Thanking You in advance . . . Amen!