Last week, we read in Deuteronomy 28 about the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience that God laid out for His people. It was a stark reminder that God is serious about our obedience...and He should be. His people are intended to reflect His nature, His name, His glory.
I couldn't help but notice that the section on curses was much longer than the section on blessings. Maybe that's because God knew Israel (and all people after them) would seem to be disobedient more often than they were obedient. But don't miss it...God comes back to blessing in chapter 30. Knowing that His people will turn from Him and rebel against Him, He promises that when they repent He will forgive them and bless them. He will restore and prosper them. And not just a little - "abundantly"!
How many of us love to quote Jeremiah 29:11? "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." I love that verse. But you know what I love even more about that verse? It's God speaking to His people during their exile. They have rebelled and failed miserably as the people of God and He is drawing them back. He is faithful when we are not. He gives grace when we least deserve it. He is generous when we have nothing to offer in return. He is our God and He loves us and is eager to bless us. May that compel us to a life of obedience for His glory!
-holly
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sick of it
I'm sick of it. Sitting in my fancy office, wearing my nice clothes, looking out my floor to ceiling windows at a beautiful lake. I'm sick of it. I'm physically sick of having hurting people drive across town to see me for an evaluation and turn around and drive right back to their poverty...while I sit comfortably at my desk wondering what the drug reps are bringing for lunch. I am so very grateful for my job and my life but I can no longer deny that there are hurting, starving, suffering people right here in my own city. I've prayed for God to break my heart for what breaks His...and He is doing just that.
I just met a couple. Their story is so similar to so many others I've heard over the years. He was working in a manual labor job, got hurt, and now they have nothing. He is in constant pain with no medical care. They live in the projects and have to beg for help to keep their lights and heat on. And they have a 6-year-old little boy depending on them. She is looking for work but has little experience and even fewer opportunities.
I evaluated him for disability and asked him if he had any questions for me. You know what he said? "Just one question...would you pray for us?" And I broke. For the first time, I really saw this couple, this man and this woman created in God's image. I saw pain and despair and my heart broke. Would I pray for them? You bet. And I did. I prayed with them, cried with them, and hugged them, wishing with everything I had that I could take away their pain.
They left but their story still pierces my heart. Not because it's so unique or tragic but because God's children in one zipcode should not be suffering like this while His children in the next zipcode live in luxury. I'm sick of it.
I just met a couple. Their story is so similar to so many others I've heard over the years. He was working in a manual labor job, got hurt, and now they have nothing. He is in constant pain with no medical care. They live in the projects and have to beg for help to keep their lights and heat on. And they have a 6-year-old little boy depending on them. She is looking for work but has little experience and even fewer opportunities.
I evaluated him for disability and asked him if he had any questions for me. You know what he said? "Just one question...would you pray for us?" And I broke. For the first time, I really saw this couple, this man and this woman created in God's image. I saw pain and despair and my heart broke. Would I pray for them? You bet. And I did. I prayed with them, cried with them, and hugged them, wishing with everything I had that I could take away their pain.
They left but their story still pierces my heart. Not because it's so unique or tragic but because God's children in one zipcode should not be suffering like this while His children in the next zipcode live in luxury. I'm sick of it.
Monday, March 8, 2010
What is my Egypt?
In Numbers the Israelites stand at the edge of the Promised Land. The land God has promised to them for generations, the fulfillment of a promise made to their patriarch Abraham. To get them to this point God has done nothing short of astonishing miracle after astonishing miracle. He has made His presence known to them in a cloud and in fire. They can see His presence with their own eyes. So they stand, an army ready to enter the land...and they lose their faith. They get scared. They forget God's grace and His faithfulness. They even cry out that they want to go back to Egypt, the land of their slavery.
So what is my Egypt? What do I choose over God's promises? What looks safe and secure but is nothing but shackles and chains? When I take my eyes off God and start to panic, what do I turn to even though God has freed me from it? Is it my house? Maybe my job or the paycheck that comes with it? Is it feeling safe in my gated community or knowing my child is getting a great education in an adorable school that looks like a castle? A lot of the times it's the dreams, the vision I have of a "nice life" with summers spent at the pool, fall spent at football games, and life spent enjoying one event after another. These are Egypt to me. At one point they make me feel safe and secure and then I look again and realize they may be the very things that enslave me. The very things that I cling to instead of clinging tightly to my God. The very things that make me swallow hard when I think of giving them up.
But wouldn't I give it all up...every bit of it to see God's glory in my life? The house, the job, the dream are worthless without Him. They are fading, corroding, disintegrating right in front of my eyes. Only His glory is forever.
God, please please show me how to live this short day in light of an eternal tomorrow. I want my life to count. Don't let me waste it. You are worth it.
-holly
So what is my Egypt? What do I choose over God's promises? What looks safe and secure but is nothing but shackles and chains? When I take my eyes off God and start to panic, what do I turn to even though God has freed me from it? Is it my house? Maybe my job or the paycheck that comes with it? Is it feeling safe in my gated community or knowing my child is getting a great education in an adorable school that looks like a castle? A lot of the times it's the dreams, the vision I have of a "nice life" with summers spent at the pool, fall spent at football games, and life spent enjoying one event after another. These are Egypt to me. At one point they make me feel safe and secure and then I look again and realize they may be the very things that enslave me. The very things that I cling to instead of clinging tightly to my God. The very things that make me swallow hard when I think of giving them up.
But wouldn't I give it all up...every bit of it to see God's glory in my life? The house, the job, the dream are worthless without Him. They are fading, corroding, disintegrating right in front of my eyes. Only His glory is forever.
God, please please show me how to live this short day in light of an eternal tomorrow. I want my life to count. Don't let me waste it. You are worth it.
-holly
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)