July 1--Why You Can Relax

That nagging sense of not measuring up, of not pleasing others, of not being the person you want to be yet...  All of these can reach up and pull me under, but today's passages tell me I don't have to go there:  2 Kings 19, Acts 21:1-26, Psalm 149, Proverbs 18:8-9.

Click here for the written post of today's episode.

Eve reads her Bible journal aloud on this episode.

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Transcript

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July one Why you can relax. I won't be reading the scripture references. For those, please check the written post. Like Forrest Gunt, my mother wore many hats. She taught herself to upholster furniture, make curtains, hang wallpaper. She sewed our clothes in Halloween costumes. She was the den mother for Cub Scouts, the teacher for eighth grade Sunday school, the lifeguard at church camps, and she was smart. She graduated sumacum laud from Vanderbilt, campaigned for a congressman, patented an invention. She flew to New York City to compete on game shows like Password, Concentration, and Jeopardy, among others in the sixties. She won luggage, encyclopedias, and cash. Mama was always learning, teaching, helping. She was into whole foods and working out before they were trendy. She authored two books, she shared her home with the homeless. She was a counselor who saw thousands of clients and didn't charge a dollar. If mama could have earned heaven, she would have, but no one can earn it, not even my smart, selfless mamma. By the end of her life she knew she needed Jesus, and she trusted him to save her. She's been a heck of a hard act to follow, as you might imagine. When I'm feeling unproductive and like I'm not earning my keep, as mama used to say, I remind myself what I believe. Jesus paid it all. Everything I do is an offering of thanks to him, not a bill payment, and my inner do gooder relaxes. Sometimes I get a project started anyway, sometimes I let myself wallow in so much grace. Today's passages give me more reasons to relax and walla, as we American southerners like to say.

2 Kings 19

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The Old Testament chapter is Second Kings nineteen. He was so distraught by the news he ripped his clothes, and so did his advisers. Then Hezekiah, King of Judah, headed to the temple where he sent a message to the prophet Isaiah. The distressing news was this Cenacherub, King of Assyria, had sent his henchmen to Jerusalem with a message of intimidation in plain Hebrew, so that everybody who'd gathered down town not only heard it, they understood it. You're about to be conquered, surrender or die. This foreign king had done his homework, he knew that Hezekiah had rid the land of the idolatry that had been posing as god worship, he outlawed making sacrifices at the high places, had smashed phallic stones, had cut down Asherah poles, in effect he'd gotten rid of every adult bookstore in Jerusalem. But Cenacherub's conclusion about Hezekiah's cleanup was all wrong. He implied that God wasn't pleased with his people now that they didn't worship him per usual, and he wouldn't rescue them from his invasion. But they could save themselves the agony of siege and starvation because if they surrendered, he'd let them live on their own land until he came to resettle them in Assyria, quote, a land of bread and vineyards, olive trees and honey, end quote. This offer from the silver tongued king of Assyria might have been tempting had his reputation not preceded him, but their cousins in Israel had already been taken captive to Assyria, and it was well known that prisoners had their lips pierced with fish hooks and were linked together by chains for their long walk there, where slaves wouldn't write bread, much less olives and honey. The Assyrian king was in a hurry to take over Judah since the king of Egypt was advancing against him, so he sent a second letter with the same doom and gloom message to Hezekiah. He'd already overthrown every other nation, and he'd overthrow Judah too. No other god had been able to stop them, and Judah's god wouldn't either. When Sinacherib's second message arrived, Hezekiah went to the temple again, and this time he prayed to God directly to save them. He spread the letter out before God and said that what Sinacherib said was true, as Syria had overthrown all the other nations they'd fought against, no one had stopped them, and now here they were at Judah's door, insulting God himself and saying he was powerless, quote, O Lord, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are God. God answered through Isaiah, saying he'd raised up Cenacherub to bring judgment on evil nations, but with the power he was given he'd gotten a big head. Now he was exalting himself and raging against God rather than praising him, and God heard every word of it. He also heard Hezekiah's fervent prayer, and his answer was that Assyria wouldn't get into the city or so much as shoot an arrow to lay siege to it. What's more Judah would laugh as Cenacherub high tailed it out of there, because God would send the king home in a hurry where he'd meet his certain death. That night the one hundred and eighty five thousand Assyrian soldiers camped outside the city, died by the hand of God's angel, and Cenacherub tucked tail and ran hard for home. Safe and sound in his capital city of Nineveh, two of his sons conspired to kill him while another son took over his throne. God is not a god to mess with. He defended his people while dealing decisively with the wicked nation of Assyria, who was known for skinning prisoners alive, spearing them to walls, and leaving them there to die. They stacked the heads of victims at their city gates and piles. Assyria's mission wasn't simply to take over other nations and extend their own borders, it was to do unspeakable atrocities to those they conquered, and God had had enough. So Hezekiah was understandably shaken to get Cenacherib's messages that both insulted God and presumed he'd conquered Judah as he'd conquered other nations, but Hezekiah knew that the gods of other nations weren't able to save them made of wood and stone as they were. He knew that God alone was God, and his life of idol smashing and praying to God in the clutch were evidence of it. It would be easy to turn this post into a be like Hezekiah story, rather than write it for what it is, a story about my awesome God. One version would show you a man to be like, the other would show you the God who was worthy of worship. Don't get me wrong, Hezekiah did a lot of things right. The Bible says he was a good king and quote, put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king quite like him, either before or after, end quote, and God rewarded him for his right living and just ruling. But the power to turn Cinacherib around didn't come from Hezekiah's faithful life. It came from the God he prayed to and trusted. Hezekiah's prayers were powerful because of who God is, not because of who Hezekiah was. His words amounted to nothing much if God hadn't wiped out a serious army and sent Sennacherub sprinting to Nineveh. This is an important distinction to make because I want God to answer my cries for help too. When my enemy is mouthy, when the dogs of doubt are hounding, when the bills are mounting, I want the assurance that regardless of my deserving it, God's ear is listening and his rescue is certain. Because try as I might, I can't be good enough to earn it. Can you? If we think we can, we're as insulting as those Assyrian messengers because we're saying that God's goodness to us can be bought by our goodness to him first. But God Himself said he dealt with Assyria, quote, for my sake and for the sake of David end quote, and not for Hezekiah's sake, because he's the God who keeps his word to be God for his people, regardless of us. It was for God's own sake that he kept his covenant promise and got rid of Assyria. It was for the sake of his promise to David that he would send Jesus to save everyone who turns to him by faith. It is for the sake of God alone that his commitment to us today is as sturdy as he is, as scandalous as his sinless son hanging on a cross for the sins of everybody but him, as certain as his empty tomb that joy filled morning. Regardless of my on again, off again faith in him, my lukewarm prayers, my half hearted service, God is faithful to me because of who he is and what Jesus has done. This is what holds me up when hard things come, because if God's rescue depends on me, I'm sunk. I'm just not worthy enough. But glory be, Jesus is. You can relax knowing that God's rescue depends on who he is and not on you deserving it.

Acts 26:1-26

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The New Testament passage is Acts twenty one to twenty six. Paul's friends begged him not to go to Jerusalem. They'd received warnings for Paul, and they claimed they were from the Spirit, but Paul was determined to go anyway. He said the important thing was not whether or not he lived or died, it was what God would do through his obedience. Paul didn't cave to peer pressure even from well meaning friends. He lived in step with what God said to him, and nothing could dissuade him. Confidence like that would take a tighter walk with God than I know because I'm wobbly this morning. Two close friends didn't comment on my last post as they usually do. I've been sifting through it, wondering what's wrong and how I can fix it. I've even considered deleting it. But then this passage came along and I realized, wait, I'm not writing for them. I'm writing about the things that speak to me. Big difference. Paul didn't travel and preach and teach to please his listeners or to earn bonus points. Jesus' call on Paul was what got him up and going in the morning. Paul was consumed with the desire to do what Jesus wanted, whether or not his friends ever got it. Because caring most about what God thinks takes the pressure off everybody. You can relax when God's opinion matters more than anyone

Psalm 149, Prayer, Proverbs 18:8-9

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else's. From Psalm one hundred forty nine. God delights in his children. God punishes the wicked. Regular Joes and Janes get in on his saving while God defying bad guys get hauled off to jail. The psalmist says these are two good reasons to sing and praise him. When evil threatens, we don't have to wring our hands in worry or get up in somebody's face. Regardless of our situations, God will prevail. Judgment will be quote carried out to the letter, end quote, and all who love God will sit in the seat of honor. If you really believe that God delights in you and makes everything right on earth, wouldn't you let a lot of things go? Like ruminating over your past, like having the last word, like dissecting your last fight to prove you are right. God adores you. Doesn't that take the worry out of literally everything? God rights all wrongs. Doesn't that give you a great big sigh of relief? You can relax because God loves you and judges evil. Prayer. God, thank you for your faithfulness regardless of mine. Thank you that I don't have to please everyone. Thank you for being God for me. These pieces of relief are so deep I can feel them. In Jesus' name, so be it. From Proverbs 18, 8 to 9. Gossip is like junk food, unsatisfying and unhealthy. Doing your work poorly is like vandalism, destructive and degrading. Passages from 2 Kings, Acts, Psalms, and Proverbs are selected for today in the yearly Bible. This is Eve de Bartleaban, roebuck.