March 24--How to Live with God's No

When the one thing I keep asking God for never happens, it's natural to lose heart, grow bitter, give up.  These passages give me a different perspective for what it is I REALLY need:  Deuteronomy 2-3, Luke 6:1-16, Psalm 68:1-6, Proverbs 11:27.

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Eve reads her Bible journal aloud on this episode.

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Transcript

Deuteronomy 2-3

Luke 6:1-16

Psalm 68:1-6, Prayer, Proverbs 11:27

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March twenty four How to Live With God's Know I won't be reading the scripture references for those please check the written post. I grew up in an unhappy home. Maybe most people do. I don't know. But what I do know is that I used to fantasize that my father wouldn't come home after a business trip, that I'd have the courage to call the police or the elders of our church to tell on him, that my parents would divorce and end the middle of the night fights that waked me, the broken dishes in the trash can the next morning, the bruises on my mother's face as she scrambled our eggs. My deepest desire throughout my childhood was that my parents would get along and I'd experience a happy family life, but this was not to be. After forty two years of marriage my parents finally divorced. It was the happiest day of my thirty one year old life. I could finally stop worrying about whether or not one would kill the other. The deepest desire of my adult life has been just as elusive. But God's been teaching me in my wilderness without it that there's really only one thing I absolutely need. He said no so he can give me something even more vital. God knew that if he gave me this desire, I'd forget all about him, and he's right, I would. So he didn't let that happen. He brought me to himself instead, where real peace and joy are. His no keeps me coming to him, keeps me having to trust he knows best, keeps me asking him, can I have it now after all these years? Nope, he says quite clearly, but I hear him saying it tenderly as he holds me in the hammock in the woods beneath the trees. The Old Testament chapters are Deuteronomy two to three. They've been fed and they've been led. Moses tells the Israelites they haven't lacked anything in all the years they've wandered. God's been faithfully by their side and provided. He's been quote right here with you, and you haven't lacked one thing, end quote. Moses is preaching to God's people on the plains of Moab across from Jericho. They're about to go in and take over the promised land, and before they do, Moses has a few things to say, since he's not going with them. Actually, it's more than just a few things, it's nearly a whole book, thirty four chapters worth. If you go back and look through numbers, you'll see that Moses doesn't write much about their time wilderness wandering those forty years after his people refused the promised land before their children are grown and ready to move in. Maybe it's because what happened during those years is better left in the desert. Had there been great faith rising up, I'm sure he would have mentioned it. What Moses does mention is that God's been right there with them. His presence is the one thing they truly cannot live without, and even for all their disobedience and rebellion, they haven't had to experience the loss of God with them. He's been there despite their turning away from him, their false accusations, their defiance, their gossiping about him, their whining, their ingratitude, their failure to remember what they've done, their failure to remember how he's cared for them every step anyway. All the miseries of their wandering pale in comparison to what life would have been like had he walked out on them. God has been there day in and day out, in the cloud by day and fire by night, right where they can see it. His kindness, goodness, patience, provision, and forgiveness have been bottomless. When I think about the comfort of him, I realize he's enough for any life. But for all his compassion, God doesn't relent his judgment. He never changes his mind about the consequences for their parents who weren't allowed to go into the promised land once they rejected it. They still had to suffer wilderness camping and the miserable menu and the scarcity of water until everyone from that generation dropped dead in the desert. And what of Moses' consequences? God has said that neither he nor Aaron will be allowed to go into the promised land either because of the way they dishonored him when serving water. Moses asks again if God might change his mind, but God is adamant. He even gets angry and tells Moses not to bring it up again because he's still sore for what Moses did when he hit the rock instead of spoke to it. It's hard for me to understand that God might hold a grudge, and maybe it's not a grudge. Sometimes the wording in English misses meanings and nuances that the original Hebrew language says better. Regardless, I find it heartbreaking that Moses pleads with God at the end of his life to let him finish what he started, and God responds with quote, not another word from you on this. Take a good look because you're not going to cross this Jordan, end quote. Moses can go up and see the land from a mountaintop, but he won't go there himself, and God isn't budging. Just as the consequences for God's people stand, the consequences for Moses stand too. God doesn't play favorites, and he doesn't relent his judgment for either of them. Moses was a big deal, humanly speaking. It's not like he was just one of the gang. He was the guy for Israel, their deliverer from Egypt, the one who believed in God when nobody else did. He was the one who spent forty days with God on the mountain twice without food or water and lived to tell the tale. He was the one God spoke with face to face like you talked to your neighbor. Moses was the one who saw God when he passed by him. He was the one God hid in the rock so he wouldn't die of glory blindness. Moses was the most humble man on the face of the planet, and this is the one God says no to about walking into this land he's been faithfully heading to for more than forty years. You can tell it's a heartache for Moses by the way he keeps asking. It's not the first time he tries to change God's mind about it. Surely he's repented for the rock smashing. Surely God's forgiven him, and yet God doesn't take back these hard consequences. Is God ruminating, unwilling to let bygones be bygones and unreasonable, even petty? No, God's not any of these. He's gracious, he's forgiving, he's patient. This is who he says he is, and this is how he's lived with his people. When Moses asked to see his glory, God passed before him, proclaiming, quote, the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. This is how he described himself, because this is how he wants to be known. But God is also holy, and his holiness is why he doesn't change his mind. In the very next sentence he goes on to proclaim to Moses, quote, yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished, end quote. God had said that when Moses hit the rock rather than spoke to it, he failed to trust God enough to honor him as holy in the eyes of the Israelites, and that because of this Moses won't bring them into this land he's been promising. But the very next verse says that God quote was proved holy among them, end quote. So if Moses didn't honor God as holy, who did? God did. God proves his holiness before the Israelites by giving Moses consequences for his disobedience that everybody knows about. They see that even God's beloved leader must face discipline because of sin, because God is holy and he can't be otherwise. And whether or not anybody honors him, he won't dishonor himself, quote, for there's no way he can be false to himself, end quote. There comes a point for each of us when we have to decide how we will respond to this holy God. When he withholds the one thing we want most of all, will we trust him and choose him as the one we won't live without? I didn't. I wandered in a wilderness of my own for a time. I learned the hard way that living without God didn't make me happier. In fact, I was even more miserable. I'll take life with God, regardless of what he gives or doesn't give over my own way any day. At the least I have peace of mind and heart, and I have hope because my story's not over yet, but I have to tell you those hammock heart to hearts are the best part. To live with God's no, embrace him as the yes you've been looking for all your life, your one true love above everyone else. The New Testament passage is Luke sixteen. Jesus is up all night talking to God on a mountain, and the very next day he selects his twelve disciples. I'm guessing there was plenty to talk about during that all nighter with his Father, since he's got quite a number of people to choose from. I'm imagining how it would feel to be chosen and not chosen. Pride and gratitude would be fighting to win out in the chosen ones while humiliation and humility would be fighting in the others. Since Jesus has returned to heaven and given us his spirit, nobody has to languish outside his inner circle anymore. We're all insiders. Each of us has his ear, and each of us has his spirit working inside to clean up and comfort us. Maybe that's what kept Jesus single minded on his mission to the cross. It was quote for the joy set before him, end quote, of making each of us his favorite. The perks of life after Jesus' ascension and the Spirit's coming are beyond anything the average follower knew way back when. I'm thankful that God's decided no to Jesus meant his decided yes to the rest of us. To live with God's no, embrace his yes and what it means to be his beloved child because of Jesus. From Psalm sixty eight one to six. David heard God's no a lot. God said no to stability and safety when King Saul hunted David for years and wanted to kill him. God said no to David's closest friendship with Jonathan. God said no to letting David build his temple. God said no to healing his newborn. God said no to letting David have peace at home as two sons tried to kill him and steal his throne. Despite God's nose, David exults in him. He writes, quote, enjoy God, cheer when you see him, end quote, because God takes down enemies. This alone makes God a worship worthy, but there's more. He's also the father of orphans, the champion of widows, the home builder for the homeless, the savior of prisoners. God wears lots of hats worth praising, and David raises the roof and encourages God's people to join him. To know God well enough to enjoy him, to be stirred to audible cheers, to be warm to laughter and singing for the sheer thrill of him, this is what worship is, and this is what David does. He knew nothing of going through the motions when it came to worship. He was active and all in, and he brings us along with him, quote, sing hymns to God, all heaven sing out, clear the way for the coming of Cloud Rider, end quote. To live with God's no, lose yourself in his worship. Prayer. God, thank you for being the God who keeps showing up and loving me. These words today are just what I needed. Wean me off my substitutes, so I worship you only. In Jesus' name, so be it. From Proverbs 1127. The one who looks for good finds it, the one who looks for evil finds it too. Beware your focus. Either way you choose, it will consume you. Passages in Deuteronomy, Luke, Psalms, and Proverbs are selected for today in the yearly Bible. This is Eve Debartle Laban Robuck.