Snakes Alive! God Swallows the Opposition

Exodus 7:10

“Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.”

Aaron’s staff was an impressive prop. He could throw it to the ground and it would transform into a slithering viper. Apparently the trick was not as unique as you might think. Magicians in Pharaoh’s court could do it too. So Moses and Aaron’s display of power got gazumped. The royal viziers did the same party trick. Snakes everywhere. (Apparently Pharaohs are OK with lots of snakes in the palace.)

But then, the unexpected happened. Aaron’s snake ate all the other snakes on the floor! Voila, the power of God. Very cool! Can I get a stick like this?

Wow … This story inspires me.

It exalts God. His mighty power overwhelms the enemy. The world is able to imitate great power, but it cannot win the final contest. God is in charge!

It humiliates worldly power. God overwhelms Pharaoh’s mob. Their symbols of royal power are eaten (alive) by a shepherd’s staff. Talk about humiliating.

It encourages me. God can defend me. I don’t stand against the enemy alone. When I obey him and do what he asks, his power is with me. The deliverance he offers may even surprise me. God's power is a wonderful blessing to those who love him!

But … It doesn’t impress Pharaoh (Ex 7:13, 8:19). At the end of chapter 7 the Hebrew people are still slaves. Moses has achieved nothing really and Pharaoh is still in charge.

Why is Pharaoh unimpressed? Probably because he thinks he has even more power. He can take Aaron’s staff by force. He can have Moses killed if he wants to. He is Pharaoh, the all powerful ruler, and he never sees it any other way. Raw power doesn’t impress him, nor does it ever change him.

I know people like this today. Confronted by God’s power they remain totally unimpressed. Raw power almost never converts anyone who is not looking for God.

So … This story challenges my view of power.

It spotlights the limits of raw power. Even when ten plagues have occurred and Pharaoh has lost his son, he does not stop fighting back. God’s power never softens him, it only hardens him. Locked in this epic power struggle, Pharaoh destroys his army and himself (14:28).

The same is true today for all who fight power with power. Parents and children; bosses and employees; unhappily married couples – they hurt each other more and more until one party in the struggle gets crushed. Raw power can swallow the opposition but it rarely mends a heart.

It challenges me to look deeper for God’s better strategy. Raw power escalates conflict. This is why Jesus says: “turn the other check”, “love your enemy” and “father forgive them”. It is in fact why Jesus lets himself be “led like a lamb to the slaughter”. Why he dies on a cross and why his followers are invited to take up their crosses also. (Matt. 5:39, 44; Lk. 23:34; Isa 53:7; Mk. 8:34)

It reminds me how it will all end. God will swallow up in judgment everything that opposes him. We are told that he waits so that others can repent, but the time will come when evil will be swallowed. This is God’s promise. (2 Peter 3:9-13)

Yes, it would be very cool to own the “baddest-stick” in town – to wield God’s power. But, power has limits. It can bring glory to God, humility to God’s opponents and encouragement to God’s followers; but raw power won’t change the hearts of people made by God and living in rebellion. Raw power can (and will) judge such rebellion, but it won’t save any rebels. That will require a very different approach – a great stick lifted up to hold a crucified Son. 

Jesus never says: "Here's a stick like Aaron's, go get'em Allan." What he says is: "Here's a cross like mine", go serve them." And in the end, I have access to more real power than Aaron and Moses dreamed.

Questions

• What have you learned about the benefits and limitations of power? 
• Have you ever been locked in an escalating power struggle? How did you (or will you) break free?

Epilogue

We are told a few times that God is responsible for hardening Pharaoh’s heart (Ex 4:21, 9:12). This is difficult to understand – I confess, I don’t really get it. But I do see power at work here. If God won’t back down because of his love for Israel, where does that leave Pharaoh? It leaves him needing to act against his nature. Imagine asking Pharaoh to turn the other cheek. It is not going to happen. So God’s unbending love for these people pushes Pharaoh deeper into his broken and hardened self. It is only when God acts in Jesus who lays down his life, that there is any real hope of salvation for all.

Something to Sing About

Psalm 13:6

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”

Today I made a list. It was easier and quicker than I expected. And more rewarding too!

The List

After reading Psalm 13:6, an idea occurred to me. A good way to prepare for worship tomorrow might be to list ways in which God has been good to me. So, I opened a blank page on my computer and typed the heading “Something to Sing About”. I began to make a numbered list. My initial goal was 20 or 30 items. I thought it might take 15 minutes.

I quickly achieved 50 items. It took, maybe 5 minutes. I noticed a few things as I made my list.

• The more I wrote the more ideas I had 
• As the list grew longer my spirits lifted higher
• The more specific I got in listing things the more fun I was having
• It was much easier than I thought it was going to be

Expanding the List

But what I achieved next actually surprised me. I took the first item in my list of 50 and expanded it in a second list. The item was “Happy up-bringing”. In less than five minutes I typed 25 ways in which “God has been good to me” during my dependent years. I was surprised how easily this list flowed. Then I took one of the things on that sub list (“learning American Sign-Language”) and very quickly listed another 16 sub-sub “God’s-been-good-to-me” notations.

While doing this I started to remember things long forgotten. For example: the big Bible that my deaf friends gave me on my 16^th (?) birthday and the way my world-view began to mature when I first visited new deaf friends in their homes. My gratitude was elevated. And then I remembered that I was counting leaves on only one small twig of a rather huge gratitude tree. Indeed, God has been good to me!

So, am I just a lucky guy with lots of good in my life? Perhaps, but I did one more thing to explore this assumption. Psalm 13 is not all happy singing. It also contains lament: “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Ps. 13:2) Singing comes at the end of this Psalm, not the beginning.

Improving the List

I took a very negative thing in my life and wrote it down as a heading. Then I tried to list ways in which “God has been good to me” through that experience. This was harder. It took more time. I even resisted the exercise a little. But within ten minutes I had a list of 12 items. Re-reading this list I have to say it has greater insight, depth and value than the other lists. It doesn’t have the free-flowing fun of my first 100+ items but it will certainly reinforce Sunday’s singing. Even in my pain, God has been good to me!

Singing the List

I am now a little bit more prepared for worship tomorrow. Time spent meditating on God’s goodness to me has elevated my joy and opened my heart. I always enjoy singing to God. Tomorrow I will enjoy it just a little more.

Questions

• What is on your list? How has God been good to you?
• Have you had an experience similar to mine? Or perhaps a different experience? 
• What helps you prepare for worship? 

Enjoy Ron Kenoly singing "He's Been Good to Me":

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w8JZLQiXEE)
Purchase at: http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/hes-been-good/id408682639?i=408682727 

Have you Changed Your Theology Recently?

Acts 10:13, 14

“Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not Lord! Peter replied “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean”.

My mind is not my socks. I don’t want a daily change. But then it is not my liver either. Why wait for dysfunction and radical surgery to bring change? We should let God work on us year by year.

What would it take for God to change your mind? Acts 10 and 11 tell a theological change story that is a good model. The change it talks about is as big as any you can think of. Bigger than any of my changes (see below). Peter’s convictions are deep and unbendable. But, God changes him.

Here are the ingredients that led to Peter’s healthy change of mind:

• A confronting personal experience. A dream shakes Peter’s world. It gets his attention. He is open now for what God will do next.
• Confirming group experiences. Don’t change your mind because of one private dream. But if eventually there is an event like what happened in Cornelius’ house and another like the Jerusalem Council. Don’t persist, out of step with God.
• Repetition. Peter’s vision was repeated three times. His new convictions get repeated (by him) several times in these two chapters as he works it out.
• Emotion. I can change my restaurant preferences pretty easy. Ask me to change my views about heaven and it will get emotional for me. Real inner change links with big emotional responses. That emotion needs to he addressed slowly.
• A process. It takes time. By the end of Acts 11 Peter has changed his theology. But consider what it took to bring about this change. First a vision, then a coincidental invitation, then a visit to meet people who were unexpectedly warm and spiritual, then a shock encounter with the Spirit, the baptism of a house full of gentiles, and finally a conversation with the Jerusalem church leaders. 
• A mission concern. Don’t change your theology for convenience. But if eternal hope is at stake pay attention to God. What is going on? Peter’s change of mind impacts the eternal destiny of many people.
• Confirmation in the Bible. A change of theology will find its roots in the Bible. Previously unnoticed verses will pop out at you. This happened to me in my journey to understand the Holy Spirit. For Peter it was the words of Jesus that came to him as the events unfolded (11:16).
• Confirmation among the leaders. When the whole Jerusalem Council praised God something profound shifted in the story of the Christian Church (Acts 11:18).

Change is hard. Changing your theology is very hard. The walk from Joppa to Caesarea must have been hard for Peter (10:23-24). His views are changing but not yet firm. He is going in a new direction but still uncertain. He could easily have run the other way. 

Peter’s story has similarities with Jonah’s story – they both go to outsiders to offer God’s hope, in both stories people take God at his word and salvation and joy comes to them. But, Peter didn’t need a great fish to get him to Caesarea and he didn’t get angry when God blessed the Gentiles with salvation. Peter, unlike Jonah, changed his theology. 

Not everyone goes along with the new thinking. Galatians shows us a different angle (unlike the initial unity of Acts 11:18). Some people resisted the change. This can be hard. It seems that Peter may even have vacillated on his new ideals. At least that’s how Paul saw it (Gal 2:11-14).

Things I have changed my mind about include: going to the movies, selling things in church on Sunday, women preachers, the gift of tongues and the use of alcohol. All of these were red letter no-no’s for me at one time. Now I take a moderate view. I go to movies (clean ones), I condone the sale of cappuccino and music CDs following worship, I promote female preachers, I welcome those with a tongues gift to exercise it wisely and I regard the moderate and responsible consumption of alcohol as a non-issue. I respect those with different views. These are my views.

Things I have become more vexed about include: earth care, the poor, divorced people, the Lordship of Jesus, heaven and the power of miracle. These were marginal, now they are central. I think Christians should lead the way in matters of environmental concern, poverty upsets me, I feel less judgement and more pain for the divorced, I would rather die than renounce Jesus as my Lord, I think the new heaven and new earth will be more exciting than I ever imagined, and I believe miracles are real today. This isn’t the final word. I might be wrong. But this is what I have come believe.

Some convictions have not moved at all. I believe God is the creator, Jesus’ cross is the hope of my salvation, resurrection is a real bodily miracle and evil will be judged.  

I am only middle-aged. Unless God takes me soon, I expect that I will change my mind again (and again, and …) on some matter of theology. That scares me and excites me. My world is not static. My faith is not frozen. My God is alive and my walk with Him is changing me – little by little.  

Change my theology Lord, as often as you need to. Save me from a brittle heart and an unbending mind. Don't let me persist as a gramophone when you need me to become an iPod so others can hear your music and dance.

Deliver My Lips from Evil

Psalm 12:3

"May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue"

I like to talk. Mostly this is good. I can use the gift of talk to serve God. But talking can also be a highway to failure. There are many ways to sin while talking.

I am not the first to recognise this. David understood it (Ps. 5:9) as did Solomon (Prov. 17:20), Isaiah (Isa. 3:8), Jeremiah (Jer. 9:8), Micah (Mic. 6:12) and James (Jam. 3:6).

My Danger

The Psalmist has an interesting insight (Ps. 12:1-8). The problem, as he sees it, is ownership – who owns my lips. It is easy to mistake location for possession. They are on my face, so they must be mine. Taken to its prideful conclusion we have the following boast: “We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips – who is our master?” Ps 12:4 (NIV)

Do I own my lips? One solution is to give them away. I can give them to God. As my creator he has a claim on every part of my life. I can yield my talk to God in prayer.

And second, I can give them to other people whom I love. (I am promoting a metaphor; don’t ask your soul mate if she or he wants your lips, they’ll think you’ve lost the plot!)

I can potentially change my behaviour by thinking of my lips as borrowed. 

Do you know that sensation you get when the dentist freezes your gums. Your lips feel fat and numb. It is as if they don’t belong on your face. What if that were adopted as a way of life - not a physical sensation, but a spiritual decision? They are not my lips. They are on loan from God and I use them to serve Him and other people.

My Resolve

Here is where it gets practical for me. I don’t promise to succeed always, but my best intentions are expressed in what follows. I resolve to:

1. Talk less. This would produce some great side effects. More time to think, less pressure to speak, more opportunity to listen and above all, less chance to sin unawares. “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” (Proverbs 17:28)

2. Not lie. Lies erode trust, undermine friendship, sow seeds of deep pain and rob us of community. “Everyone lies to their neighbour…”, says Ps 12:2 with sorrowful resignation. This angers God. I purpose to speak the truth (in love Eph 4:15) as an act of obedience to God and service to others.

3. Not boast. I don’t mind celebrating my achievements. I have a healthy pride in my kids. I’ll tell you what I love about my church. But there is a line here somewhere. I know when I cross it. I don’t want to be one of those people who “boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage” (Jude 1:16). David’s prayer in Ps 12:3 gets my attention: “May the Lord cut off … every boastful tongue”. Not pretty!

4. Filter my words for the sake of God’s work. It is a sobering thought that we will give account on the day of judgment for every careless word spoken (Matt 12:36). "Is this helpful?" is a good test to apply before I speak.

5. Help the needy find their voice. The groaning of the needy stirs God to action (Ps. 12:5). Rather than use my lips to get my way, I should “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute” (Prov. 31:8). Perhaps this is one reason why I have these “lips-on-loan” from God.

6. Hear and repeat God’s words. “The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace…!” (Ps. 12:6) My words are usually not. I would like to be a conduit of God's communication.

7. Learn in silence. There is a time to be still and much can be learned in that silence. (Ps. 46:10, Eccl. 3:7)

My lips are a powerful gift. My tongue has great capacity. The same is true for you! It is wise that we choose to give these away - to God and others whom we love. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). Resolve to use that power well.

 

Questions

How do you keep your talk in check? 

What have you resolved to do concerning your lips and tongue?

And just for fun ... 

Veggie Tales, Silly Songs with Larry: "I Love My Lips"

You can check out this and other Veggie Tale products at Big Idea.

What Successful People Pay Attention To

Genesis 50:20

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

I love the Joseph story. He seems to be spiritually awake all the time. In chapter 50 we see his heart and we catch a glimpse of his “method”. What is going on in his head?

Joseph was the victim of his brother’s jealousy. He was imprisoned in a pit and sold as a slave. This sinister episode could have ruined him and his family as well. But that does not happen. Instead, Joseph is blessed and finds the ability to forgive his brothers (Gen 50:15-21).

The focus of Joseph’s words in this verse is very helpful for me. Consider how his attention shifts.

From the negative to THE POSITIVE. Positive thinking is not a solution for everything, but it does help most things. If you imagine yourself dunking the basketball as you prepare for the big game, you are more likely to do just that when you get the ball. Tell others you will get something done and you increase your chances of doing it. Embrace hope in God and the whole world looks different.

From the random to THE PURPOSEFUL. Bad luck, eh. To have nasty brothers who want you dead, then to work for a man whose sleazy wife get’s you imprisoned, and then to make friends with jail-buddies who forget all about you when they are released. It’s enough to make you spit. However, by the end of the story we see the golden thread that winds through all this nonsense. Joseph’s wisdom is to grasp onto that thread as early and as often as possible (Gen. 45:4-8). And even when he can’t find God’s plan, he seems to keep on acting as if he knows it is there. To trust God’s heart through the disappointment and pain of the moment is the path to real success.

From self to OTHERS. Perhaps the hardest focus to maintain when things aren’t going well is the focus on others. The Joseph story reminds me that a personal loss today may be a strategic element of how I will serve others tomorrow. Could God use me to “save many lives”? Surely that’s a good reason to take a little heat in my life.

These three attention-shifts inspire me. It is worth noting that for a large part of Joseph’s life he was unknown. He didn’t do these things and succeed immediately. He built up a track record of faithfulness until this way of paying attention – noticing the positive, the purposeful and others – was his conditioned response.

It also needs to be said that Joseph wasn't perfect. He seems to toy with his brothers in Chapters 42 - 44 and we are not sure if he is going to forgive or not. Is he testing them? Is he also being tested? Facing his tormentors after all those years must have challenged him profoundly. To his credit he chooses to pay attention to the positive, the purposeful and the 11 brothers standing in front of him. In the end he blesses them. Again he is successful!

Perhaps I could think of each challenging experience in my life as an exercise in “paying attention”. I need to lookout for the Positive, the Purposeful and what might be in it for Others. It is what eternally successful people do.

Questions

What do you enjoy about the Joseph Story?

How do you keep a right attitude when things don't go well?  

Another post about Joseph: Three Crazy Career Moves That Worked

I Don’t Want to Suffer for Jesus

Acts 5:41

“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

I want to obey Jesus. I want to be bold in witness just like the apostles. But I do not WANT to suffer. Does that make me a weak follower of Jesus?

I think not. I think it makes me normal. And that is exactly what this story is about (Acts 5:17-42).

Insight: this is not an exhortation it is a testimony. Acts 5 doesn’t say “Allan, be like this”, it says “Allan, look at this”. There is a big difference.

Exhortation: Allan, be like this!

On my first reading of this verse I thought, “I don’t qualify? I am not worthy like these great saints?” When I try to predict my response to suffering, I worry. “Can I suffer and then rejoice so freely?” To be honest, I’m not sure. The question even makes me feel a little guilty because I just plain don’t want to suffer.

Testimony: Allan, look at this!

There is a better way to read this. Nowhere in verse 41 does it say: “Copy this.” What it actually implies is more like: “This is what happened, can you believe it!”

God made the moment of suffering something unexpectedly good. The credit goes to God, not the apostles! The apostles did not bring joy with them to their day of torture. God gave it to them in the moment. God transformed their experience of suffering. It was a miracle.

I believe this story is in the Bible to encourage people like me who don’t want to suffer. The question for me is not, “Does Allan pre-qualify for suffering?” God knows, I fail. The right question is: “Will Allan stand up and trust God when the moment comes?”

This story helps me say: “Yes!” It helps me trust God not people (Acts 5:29).

Nothing here makes we “want” suffering. But the story does make me less afraid of pain. God transforms suffering itself and I trust him. If I can take the apostles at their word, the pain that I fear, won’t be what I fear. When I suffer “disgrace for the Name” I will actually feel elevated, joy-filled and connected with God’s purpose in an amazing way.

I have already experienced this. My pain is very small compared to the apostles, but I know exactly what they are saying. It is a privilege to suffer for Jesus. I don’t want suffering, but I don’t fear it either!

The apostles’ experience does not judge me, it empowers me. It is not an “exhortation” it is a “testimony”. God transformed their suffering into joy and he will do the same for me. The apostles are not better than me, they just went before me. Will I follow? Their testimony gives me confidence to say “Yes!”

Post Script

I might point out that Jesus didn't want to suffer either (Mark 14:36)! And when he did suffer, God transformed it in the most amazing way.

Questions

What have you learned about suffering for Jesus? 

Have you experienced suffering for him as a privilege and a joy?

Help Me Jesus!

Psalm 5:2

"Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to you.”

How do you bracket the day? What comes first? What comes last? Recommendation: Simple prayer.

It doesn't have to be a long prayer to be effective. For me, a heart-felt word with God has enormous power to focus my thinking and shape my day. Some days it is just a sentence.

A good model for starting and finishing the day is the manuscripts of J.S. Bach. When he wrote music he would often begin by writing the initials J.J. at the top of the page. It stands for "Jesu Juva", Latin for "Jesus help me". He understood his dependence on God.

Then at the end of the finished composition he would write S.D.G (Soli Deo Gloria), "To God alone be the glory". He made each piece of music he wrote an offering to God. I want to make each day I live an offering.

God gives me a clean sheet each day. What a privilege. I want to write my life on it with Jesus Help and offer it to God's glory. 

The truth is, some days I start with a rush and end with a sigh. Some days I wake up worried and drop into bed frustrated. But on my best days, I start with prayer and end with prayer. Jesus' help me! Glory to God! 

A prayer sandwich. It's a productive way to bracket my waking hours. 

Question

Do you have daily rituals of prayer that help you? Share them with me.

10 Reasons I Love to Read the Bible

Psalm 119:105

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

Today is Valentine’s Day. Around the world poems will be written in celebration of romantic love. I hope you get one. But I doubt anyone will write a Valentine’s poem for the Bible.

I revisited a poem today that is exactly that – a 3000 year old celebration of God’s words – Psalm 119. Someone worked very hard to design this. The 176 verses form an acrostic using all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in groups of 8. It is a labour of love and genius.

I’m no poet! Ask my wife. So instead of lyrical verse, I will offer a list to celebrate my love for God’s words. Here are my 10 top reasons for reading, reflecting, blogging about, and engaging with, the good book.

I love my Bible because …

1. It loves me. I liked a girl in High School who never liked me back. It ended! I wrote to a pen pal who never wrote back. It ended! But I read the Bible and it gives back. It loves me. That is why I keep reading it and why I choose to blog about it. The more I invest in reading and studying the Bible the more it yields. In my experience “Scripture is God-breathed”, it lives and it loves. (2 Timothy 3:16)

2. It feeds what is good about me and attacks what is vile. It is tonic for my character. The Bible confronts my weaknesses and remolds me. It inflates my best self with a breath (Spirit) that is not my own. Any particle of the Bible that I hide away in my thinking can change me for the good. (Psalm 119:11, 133)

3. It expands my capacity. Because I read the Bible I am wiser, more compassionate, better equipped to lead, and more focused in what I do. This is not a boast; it is an admission of what I would be without God’s gift. Years of reading expand the mind and fuel healthy aspirations. (2 Timothy 3:15).

4. It fosters a relationship I do not deserve. The Bible is God’s dialogue with me. A friendship is forged from the substance of its pages. I experience forgiveness and spirit infilling as I read. Some mornings I feel like an Emmaus Road traveler – my “heart burns within” while he talks with me and “opens the Scriptures” to me? (Luke 24:32)

5. It is useful. I have a business consultant friend who says that all his best material comes from the Bible. I know a counselor who uses her Bible knowledge in her professional career to achieve profound results with clients. My experience is the same, it lights my path. (2 Timothy 3:16)

6. It surprises me (in a good way) again and again. The Bible is about everything. It discusses philosophy and miracles, nations and character, love and death, spirit and pain, angels and sex. Everything is here, it is a fruit salad. What is more, the Bible has incredible depth. I can read an old verse on a new day and find things I never noticed before. Each chapter is like the face of a close friend, it doesn’t change, but then, it is never quite the same either.

7. It grows my hope. I listen to a short news cast each morning. Rarely does this lift my spirits. My Bible reading, on the other hand, allows me to see the world differently. As I slow down and think about what I am reading it lifts my hopes and changes my perspective. (Rom 15:4)  

8. It is brilliant literature. For generations it has inspired song writers, poets, politicians, educators, entrepreneurs and artists. Even if I didn’t think it was true, the Bible would still be valuable as a work of artistry. Its beauty feeds my spirit.

9. It connects me with the cosmic, the eternal and the supernatural. The Bible tells a BIG story. The cast includes angels and the geography contains a Heavenly City. Always, the Bible presents a view of reality beyond what ears and eyes can grasp. Those who read it, like those who wrote it, are often “carried along by the Holy Spirit”. Who knows where this Wind will take me. (2 Peter 1:20, 21)

10. It answers the Black-Eyed Peas. I can’t commend everything they perform, but I do enjoy the song “Where is the Love?” The lyrics (2003) ask a question that resonated with Aussies pushing the song to #1. If you are really looking for an answer, spend some time exploring the Bible. It tells us where the love is! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc

You will have additional reasons for reading the Bible. My hope in blogging is to stir up enthusiasm for God’s word and inspire others to read, reflect and obey the Bible. So, share your reasons with me.

Questions

• Do you have a favorite verse? I would love to hear your comments.
• If you enjoy reading the bible, what reasons would you give?

Evil, Break Its Arm

Psalm 10:15

Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness.

David’s prayer does not sound very loving. Taken out of context it is bad religion! Yet, he voices a thing we all feel. Where is the justice? Psalm 9 and 10 talk about evil. They describe the reality faced by all of us and the reaction of one Godly man. I find this helpful.

Description of an evil person (Ps. 10:2-11)

• Takes advantage of the weak
• Boasts about his perversions
• Has no interest in God
• Is proud about all his achievements
• Is sickeningly self assured
• Cannot be trusted
• Doesn’t care who he hurts
• Thinks God doesn’t notice

Description of a prayer against evil (Ps. 9:13-14; 19-20; 10:1,12-18)

• I am persecuted at the gates of death
• Lift me up so I can praise you at the gates of heaven
• Wake up God!
• Don’t forget the weak
• Why? WHY?
• You see our pain, now act.
• Make evil people feel the hurt and fear they inflict, stop them.
• Make wicked people answerable, judge them.
• You are King forever, show us
• You DO hear
• You DO encourage
• You DO defend
• So, we hope for the end of ALL terror.

Description of God’s victory over evil (Ps. 9:3-10; 15-18)

• Enemies of the good stumble and perish
• These enemies fall into their own trap and die by their own designs
• The RIGHT wins!
• The community of evil is destroyed
• The memory of that community is blotted out
• The needy are remembered
• A new government is established
• This government is strong and acts with perfect justice
• This government provides refuge for the oppressed
• This government is established forever under God

Description of David’s praise when evil falls (Ps. 9:1-2, 11-12)

• Whole hearted
• Vocal
• Emotive
• Musical

Description of this Psalm

• It is a lament
• It is attributed to David
• It is a poem in two parts – Ps 9 and Ps 10
• The verses follow the Hebrew alphabet in order – it is an acrostic with some exceptions (that's how we know the two psalms belong together).
• It starts with praise (9:1) and ends with hope (10:18) – this is the posture of faith in the face of evil
• The question “Why?” is not answered
• The question “When?” is not answered
• The question “Who?” is partly answered
• The question “What should I do?” is answered
• The question “Does God care?” is answered forcefully, "YES!"
• I must be careful to let the psalm judge me as well as others
• Reading it when I feel worried or depressed about evil helps me

Questions

How do you respond to this two part Psalm?

How does it encourage you? Challenge you? Change your thinking?

Three Crazy Career Moves That Worked

Gen 41:16

“I cannot do it” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires”.

 

If the most powerful person alive asked me for a favour, would I lead with: “I cannot do it”? Wow.

All Joseph has to say is: “I’ll try”. Pharaoh wants him to interpret a dream. Joseph has dabbled in dream analysis before and had some success. Pharaoh knows this track record and is giving Joseph a possible “get out of jail free” card. Why not take it and run? Why be so self effacing and why bring God into it at all?

Joseph’s “I can’t” is a verbal bulldozer. It clears a space for both Pharaoh and me to hear the powerful words that come next: “God will”. Three things inspire me as I watch Joseph. They are unusual career moves to say the least. But they work!

1. Joseph chooses to promote his God at the moment he could have promoted himself. This is a risk. It is always a risk to talk about God when other people want simply to engage our skill set. Joseph makes his faith in God a matter of public attention. It is a risk that pays off for him (41:39-40). This evidence of God at work is the very thing that earns Joseph a promotion. It is significant that the years in prison have not rotted Joseph’s spiritual passion. After a shave and a change of clothes (41:14) he is more eager to speak for God than for himself. 

2. Joseph leads with his limitations. This is counter-intuitive. “I can’t” sounds weak. Our culture values competence and self sufficiency. What sort of conversation would I begin with the words: “I cannot do it”? Probably not a job interview! Certainly not a University oral exam, or a sales pitch. And NOT a conversation with the one person who can free me or slay me at will (recall the Baker and Cupbearer in Gen 40). But it is Joseph’s exceptional honesty and his disarming transparency, that makes him so useful to God and to Pharaoh. He stands out as different. Do I?

 

3. Joseph gives away his intellectual property for free (41:33-36). A self serving strategy might have stopped at verse 32 and revised the next paragraph as follows: “And now let Pharaoh hire me and my firm to do a costly analysis and publish a huge and confusing report.” Joseph chooses instead to offer his best advice without strings attached. Many wise people have learned the power of giving their best away. It has a habit of coming back to you “pressed down and shaken together”. This was certainly true for Joseph.

These three unorthodox strategies win Joseph an unexpected leadership office. He becomes vice-regent of the realm. Not bad for age 30! And Pharaoh specifically credits the promotion to the spirituality Joseph has disclosed and the wisdom he has offered freely.

I do not propose that anyone should follow this prescription mechanically. Reflection is required. We need God’s particular leading in each situation. Remember that Joseph's passion for God and his high morals landed him in jail in the first place (Gen 39)! There are no formulas.

However, behind Joseph’s bold behavior there stand three powerful principles.

• Seek (promote) God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well (Luke 12:31)
• Humble yourself (admit your limitations) and you will be exalted (Luke 14:11)
• Give (your best ideas) and more will be given to you (Luke 6:38)

Who would have thought that a conversation starting with Joseph’s “I cannot do it” would end with Pharaoh’s “I put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt” (41:16, 41). Such is the way of God's mercy.

Questions

How can we be Joseph-like in our worlds?

Have you observed any of these principles at work in your life?

What other unusual career moves have you seen pay off significantly?

Five Ways to Get Wisdom

James 3:17, 18

The wisdom that comes from above is pure, peaceable, kindly and considerate; it is merciful and shows itself by the good it does,  nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it.

I love it when someone knows exactly what to do. They speak words that hit the target. They act and get the result. They invest energy and before long they have made a real and positive different. I love to be in the presence of wisdom.

What is wisdom for? This, it seems to me, is the first question. How to get it comes second.

James has seven suggestions for the purpose of wisdom (James 3:17, 18). 

• Purity. Wisdom will remove dross. It will clarify, simplify and elevate value. A pure action or idea is, like any precious metal, worth more than a mixed alloy. 
• Peaceable. It will calm things down.  
• Kindly and considerate. Wisdom will leave other people feeling heard and understood. Its purpose is to build community. 
• Merciful. It will forgive. It doesn't catalogue failure. It accepts people and gives second chances. 
• Shows itself by the good it does. It is about outcomes. 
• Impartiality. Wisdom will honour difference. It will get value out of diversity. 
• No hypocrisy in it. Wisdom is the real deal! It isn't trying to make a hard sell or hoodwink anyone. It is just trying to do the right thing.

I notice that wisdom, in James' mind at least, has a lot of similarities with love in Paul's writings (1 Cor 13).

How can I get wisdom? 

1. Be worthy of it. Do I still want wisdom, now that I know what it is for? Do I want to be a peacemaker and a community builder? If I just want to have more and be applauded more the wisdom I find will turn to dust.
   
   
2. Want it enough to ask for it. Solomon did (1 Kings 3), so I will. I do it repeatedly each day. I pray: "God help me to know what to do, help me prioritise, help me make a difference".
   
   
3. Sit at the mouth of wisdom's river. If the source of wisdom is "from above", it doesn't make a lot of sense to look only "below". I love to read books and blogs and to follow wise people. This helps. But each time I am in the presence of real spine-tingling-wisdom I sense what James is getting at. This wisdom has the aroma of heaven about it. If we want to learn wisdom, look up (Prov. 15:33). I find my regular Bible reading and reflecting helps me do this better than anything else.
   
   
4. Get up every time I fall down. Life is a teacher. There is more opportunity to be wise at 70 than at 17. There is more opportunity to be bitter and twisted as well! The difference is surely in the attitude each time I start again. Did I learn? Did I fail forward?
   
   
5. Wait for it. James says "it comes". While I may ask for it and live towards it, I can't take wisdom by force. It has to come to me. Wisdom is butterfly-like. It floats towards those who are worthy and flits from those who are not. 

Questions

• What do you think wisdom is for?
• How do you think wisdom is achieved?

Get Daily Wisdom Here
The Bible text above is today's reading from a great website: Taize Daily Bible Reading. You can choose from several languages. It comes to my reader each day. 

Grieve Well, Live Well

Gen 35:8

Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth (Oak of Weeping).

Pain comes to everyone. Sensible people try to avoid it of course, but no one is 100% successful. When pain comes, it is silly to deny it. I am ashamed to admit that I have been a silly person. But not any more! Now I know, what Jacob knew.

Pain came to Jacob’s family and they named a tree! When Rachel’s beloved nurse Deborah died, the family cried and then established a memory to their tears. They named the landmark tree which shaded her grave Allon Bakuth, “Oak of Weeping”.

I like this simple response to loss because:

• It is not an answer. Naming a tree doesn’t change anything. It certainly doesn’t explain “why”. But naming a tree is strangely therapeutic.
• It is not a private response. They did it as family. And it was public enough for the Scriptures to memorialize the story.
• It is not a head response. Naming a tree is more like poetry, art or playfulness; and less like strategising, explaining or calculating.
• It is not a trite response. To “name” something is really quite significant.
• It involves nature. How beautiful to think that the Oak Tree is also weeping. How biblical in fact (Rom 8:22).
• It works.

I have been a slow learner in the school of grieving. I have not always understood its profound value. My celebrated strategy was stomping through transition, failure, loss and even death, with the least emotion and most speed possible. If I could avoid feeling sad I counted it a win. I did not understand the positive power of such emotions. I thought I was winning. I was not.

This failure to grieve was making me less tender, less compassionate and less effective. All of this came crashing into my awareness more than five years ago. I changed. I began to practice the discipline of slowness and the art of sadness in the face of loss. Now I see the pain of others more readily. I grow through my own pain. I find God’s healing grace in ways I had not known before.

So what does this look like practically? I can identify five things:

1. I pray asking God to help me feel His pain (purposeful pain).
2. I unpack my loss with people I can trust and write some of my thoughts down.
3. I visit places (both geographic and internal) that I would have avoided previously and let myself taste the sadness. 
4. Then I bury it.
5. And, I give it a named. Just like the “Oak of Weeping”.

To my surprise, I emerge from this exercise a healthier person. I have learned to embrace sadness. Not the way a mother holds her infant (I don't love grief!), but the way a carpenter grips a saw – firmly and with purpose. Grief is a tool and I am only recently learning how to use it to build a better life.

Questions

• Do you have a recent or particularly significant “Oak of Weeping”? Is there a place, a thing or an event which bares a name that is testimony to your loss?
• What have you learned about grieving well?

A Book

I found help in the book“The Emotionally Healthy Church” by Peter Scazzero. The professional titled sounded safe. But, the author actually wants to talk to the minister/reader first. The stuff about the church’s health comes second. That book blessed me heaps.

Epilogue

Another tree comes to mind. Another tree of weeping, of bleeding, of suffering and then victory. This tree is cruciform. And the one who hangs on it becomes a curse (Gal 3:13). But this tree casts a healing shadow like no other!