Donna is a wife, mother, grandmother, writer, and Biblical counselor. She has been blogging through the Bible each year since 2012. She loves God's Word and sharing how freeing and practical it is. She is certified through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.
A few years ago, we found ourselves caught in a battle against an enemy that could only be seen under a microscope. Chances are there are still pockets of resistance in that battle. Some medical and others that are more political and social. And there are lessons we think we learned that we might be tempted to forget now that the heat of the battle is over.
But … is there a spiritual parallel?
Could we have pockets of resistance in our spiritual lives, too, areas where we have failed to let go of “old man” habits or justified something as good enough?
If so … like the Israelites, we’ll read about today, might those things be thorns in our sides and hindrances to our walks with God?
We all understand that the things of this world can distract us from our devotion to God. But seemingly good things, like our religious activities and our service to Him, can make us too busy and distracted, as well. Could there be something in your life and mine that has been distracting us from wholehearted devotion to God? Could this be a bigger problem than most of us have realized and something we need to evaluate?
I talked to a young mom recently about Christian parenting. She is struggling with a strong-willed child and looking for some answers. When I began sharing biblical principles, she told me, it’s a different world today where parenting is concerned. What did she mean? Should parents today ignore parts of the Bible’s instructions on parenting? If not, how can we be obedient to Scripture and, yet, wise in the world in which we live?
Last fall the leadership team at our church met to plan out the following year. We talked about goals, scheduled events, and budgeting issues. Most people understand that planning is important. Sadly, even evil men and women spend time planning to do evil. But, what if we could make another kind of plan, a plan to do right rather than wrong, a “spiritual obedience plan,” if you will?
As I thought about this subject, it brought to mind parachuting. When a parachutist jumps out of a plane, he first wants to know that his parachute was packed properly and in working order. But, even then, he knows that things can go wrong. So, there is a plan “B,” a reserve parachute. In a way, a spiritual obedience plan can be both. It can guide us through the normal tests and temptations of life, help us to form new habits, and because it is written out, it can serve as that reserve parachute when emotions are running high.
So, what might it involve, how can we make one, and could it actually help us grow and steady us in tough times?
A couple of years ago, a missionary visited our church to talk about his organization’s work in an African nation where Christians are routinely murdered, women and girls are raped and disfigured, and where the missionaries themselves are marked for death. Doing right by sharing the gospel in a place like that is risky, to put it mildly.
But the Christian life lived well is a life of risky faith. Sometimes that involves a call to a foreign mission field or some other dangerous ministry, but it also takes risky faith to turn the other cheek or forgive with no guarantee you won’t be hurt again. It takes risky faith to obey God when it makes little sense to your natural way of thinking or to stand up for the truth in a world of compromise. So, how can you trust God more as you seek to do right in a world where doing right is risky?
Do the challenges in your life make you desperate for God? Do they cause you to evaluate what is really important? And do you turn to Him when trials and worries threaten to consume you? Or do you spend your time complaining and focused on worldly solutions? I have to ask myself the same questions.
If the latter is true, could many years of prosperity and comfort have infected us with a deadly disease? Jon Bloom describes this disease as “spiritual leprosy, damaging spiritual nerve endings so that we don’t feel the erosion and decay happening until it’s too late.” Has it robbed us of our thirst for God and replaced it with a taste for the things of this world? Did it deaden us to the realization that we are desperate for Him? Could it even have revealed something much more serious? If so, what can and should we do now?
Things happen in life. Sometimes we’re sinned against. Someone hurts us. A friend betrays us. Other times, it’s a temptation. Someone or something looks good to us. We think we’re not getting something we need … or want. Like Eve, we see something that’s desirable. We may even believe God is withholding something good from us. How will we respond? We’re at a point of decision.
How will you handle your next point of decision and what can help you make a better decision?
Things in our culture are changing rapidly. Many believe the attacks on biblical principles, the marginalization of our beliefs, the loss of our freedoms, and the persecution toward us as believers will continue to increase. How will we respond to the challenges? Will we stay true to what we say we believe? Will we continue to stand up for biblical truth when it’s unpopular? What if it were outlawed? What can we do to prepare ourselves for what could happen?
Music has the power to do good and evil. The songs we sing can be powerful tools for teaching, persuading, and helping us remember things. They can trigger the imagination and stir our hearts.
Have you ever heard a song and been quickly taken back to a different time? And how many childhood songs do you remember 20, 30, or 40 years later? Why is music so powerful?
What kind of music do you listen to? Does it help you walk closer to God? Or does it draw you into the world? What kind of worship music do you sing? Does it make much of God or much of man? Why are the songs we sing so important?
Probably few of us could have foreseen the damage an invisible virus would do to our economy, sense of security, and national attitudes before 2019. Add to that concerns about terrorism, crime, social and moral changes in our nation and the world, growing hostility toward people of faith, and the normal effects of living in a fallen world, like sickness and disease, and there is much that could tempt us to worry.
Yet, none of this is a surprise to God. And if we understand His sovereignty, we must admit that He knows, allows, and sometimes ordains the circumstances of our lives. All that happens, including our responses, happens in the presence of God, coram Deo, literally before His face.
As we contemplate that fact, we should also remember that what God allows and ordains in our lives serves His purposes. He has general purposes for us all, but He also has specific plans and purposes for each of us. Those purposes are always for our good and His glory. And those two are never opposed to one another. They work in perfect harmony. So, how can understanding these things help us respond better in times of adversity?
