Keep Your Opinion To Yourself...Especially If Its Gonna Cause Drama

Ruth 1:14-16 -  At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

As I reread the beginning of one of my favorite stories in the Bible…my heart stopped on these verses. The world around me is falling apart…because people have forgotten that God allows free choice.  The new …45^th president has some real opposition.  Some women feel like it’s time to protest and march for what they believe. Some people even believe they have the right to smash up buildings while they shout what they believe.  It is a reminder of the truth ...that no matter what I think…someone else has an opposing view. Do people really believe that if they scream their opinion loud enough that everyone will magically switch to the other side?

I like the example that these three women set for us. All three have different thoughts.  Orpah wants to go home.  Ruth wants to stay with Naomi.  Naomi wants Ruth to go home with Orpah. And in the end…they all keep their opinions…except maybe Naomi. I think she really cherishes Ruth’s decision to stay with her. There is no shouting in each other’s faces….no drama…just a calm speech deep from Ruth’s heart that asks Naomi to stop asking her to leave.

I needed the reminder NOT to jump on the drama wagon and add my two cents worth….unless God gives me a calm heartfelt statement of fact that someone I love may need to hear. I needed these three women to remind me that it’s okay to feel differently as long as we don’t force ourselves on each other. I would love to see perfect peace and unity in the next few seconds…but my heart knows that the only way that will happen is for Jesus to arrive on the scene for his second coming.

Father…thank you for the example of these lovely ladies…who model for me the way to peacefully state our choices about life here on earth.  Forgive me for the times that I have let my opinions pour forth with no filter…..creating more drama than was there in the first place. Help me to always pour my feelings out to you  first…so you can give me peace and wisdom to know if they are thoughts that others might need. Amen.

Listen As Long As It Takes For God To Speak

Judges 21:23 - The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. “Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”

The chapter of judges ends with a story of bittersweet solutions. The 11 tribes who had had been so harsh on the tribe of Benjamin…fretted because the vow they made to not give their daughters in marriage….set up the distinction of one of the 12 tribes. Instead of just asking God to forgive them for their unthought out vow…they created even more drama…. that led to the killing of more of their people and the kidnapping of some of their daughters.

The biggest reason for their problem was their own failure to let God be in control of their life. Sure…they gathered at the temple to seek his guidance….but they still did whatever they thought was best. Nowhere in this story does it say ... “and God told them to.” I was convicted of my own guilt as soon as I wrote the words. Just because I ask God what to do…doesn’t mean I always waited to follow his advice before going out to solve the problem.

Psalm 27:14 says… “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”   Psalm 46:10 says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” These two verses together remind me not to be in a hurry to solve the problems in my life.  Whether they be made by my own bad choices…or just happen because God allows a little hardship into my daily struggle…I need to wait on him to tell me how to handle it…and not step out ahead of him in human impatience and pride.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you know and have a plan for every struggle that you allow in my life. Forgive me for the many times that I have stepped ahead of you…or forgotten that your plan is not always what I would think of for myself. Help me to remember that when I come to you for advice…I need to listen as long as it takes for you to speak your wisdom into my heart and mind.  Amen.

Fasting Focuses Our Prayers With Great Intensity

Judges 20:26 – 27 -Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. And the Israelites inquired of the Lord. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there.)

Things had gotten so serious…the evil in the midst of their brothers was so bad …. that the tribes gathered to ask God what to do about their brother Benjamites. They were told by God to go to battle…and in two separate days many of Benjamites who settled in Gibeah died. This verse was the response of the Israelites before they went to battle the third day.  They stepped up their petition to God with offerings and fasting.

My heart and mind stopped on the word ‘fasted’ when I read it.  It is a practice that allows our heart to become so humble that we give up something that we hold dear and good to let God know how serious we are.  Fasting can be as complete as going without food and water for a period of time…or as simple as giving up a favorite dessert… TV time…. technology time or any number of other things we enjoy on a regular basis. The time we would have spent in that activity is redirected in prayer to God for something we are deeply concerned about.

I needed the reminder that fasting is one of the greatest options to let God know our hearts are heavy with concern over a burden.  God knows what burden came to mind when he reminded me this morning…and he knows what thing I will pick to fast while I step up my prayer time to petition him about how to wait on his timing and move in the situation as I pray about it.

Father...Thank you for the reminder that fasting is a way to focus my prayers more intensely on a burden you have laid on my heart.  Forgive me for not thinking of it myself...and letting the burden consume me in negative ways instead. Help me to pick just the right thing to fast…so that every time I want that thing I choose to give up…my heart remembers to pray for my concern and burden. Amen.

Stay Connected To God Every Second

Judges 19:30 -  Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”

You really need to read the whole chapter of Judges 19. It’s a sad … gruesome story of a man who tried to forgive and renew his commitment to his concubine.  But in the end she was less important to him than his own life and he gave her up to be abused so badly in one night that she died.  He took her body and cut it into 12 pieces…so he could send them to each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Even though it was a gruesome way to send a message…it finally got everyone’s attention.  They knew it was time to do something about the evil they had let infiltrate their lives.

It speaks to a harsh piece of our nature as man.  We let the bad things in our lives grow and fester till they get so bad that a catastrophic tragedy jars our mind and heart to asking God for help again. We try to handle things on our own until they become unmanageable and we have to admit we need help.  Our nature…the very nature of earthly life itself ...justifies that a relationship with God does not have to be a daily…even moment by moment thing.

The truth is that the only way to combat the growing evil in our world today is to cling to God every second of the time he allows us life on earth. I needed the reminder that even though God promised to never leave us…and when we mess up he will always take us back…that his heart’s desire is for a constant relationship that never gets severed…. Not even for a second.  David hit it on the head when he wrote Psalm 145:2.  It says… “Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to stay connected to you in every second of my life.  Forgive me for the times that I have allowed life to put you on hold … and justify doing other things instead of listening to your will for my life.  Help me to find new ways to stay connected with you every second of the time you allow me breath on this earth. Amen.

Renew A Right Spirit Within Me

Judges 18:30-31 -   There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Somewhere along the way…. this tribe of Dan that God blessed with a huge victory and possession of a sweet piece of land …forgot the first commandment they had vowed to keep. That one that says ...thou shall have no other gods before me… you shall worship only me… was totally forgot when they placed some of their trust and hope in the ephod and household gods they took from Micah’s house.

God let them make this bad choice for several years. He wants our love and worship…but he won’t force himself on anyone. He lets the natural consequences of our choices slowly teach us how wrong we were to make the choice that pulled our loyalties away from him….or allowed our hearts to think that it was ever okay to slit our love for him with anything else. It must break his heart so bad to watch us be so stubborn sometimes.

I don’t have any household gods or an ephod…but not many people do these days. If I am honest… several different material things slowly tricked me into sharing my complete time and love for God with other things.  The time I set aside to study the Bible and write was crowded out by other things. Something even slowly squelched the passion I once had to rise early each day and write.  The gods of this world come in many forms and sizes….and they slowly crept in to my heart and mind and rearranged my priorities.

I was reminded last night in my Celebrate recovery meeting that I don’t have to stay stuck.  I can realize that I am powerless against these things…and give total control over to the one true God. If I admit that he is my complete power…I can begin to remove all the blinders the world has placed over my mind and heart…and get back to giving God my complete attention.

Father…thank you for the reminder that the world has nothing to offer me. I only live here because you have a purpose for me and you put me here to do a certain work for you.  Forgive me for allowing the world to gain so much control over my heart and mind that I put your purpose for me in the background.  Renew my passion to serve you and spend time with you so you can direct my paths in the way you want them to go. Amen.