Sunday Wisdom

Say this to yourself about 10 times, than let it soak in. Happy Labor Day.

~ Keith
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"If worship bores you, you are not ready for heaven." AW Tozer (The Purpose of Man)

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Gideon Riding A Dinosaur - Cooler Than Fleece

One of the most oft-prayed requests we make (don't any of you even try to wiggle out of this either.  Busted!) is "God, help me do X" or "Lord, help me accomplish Y."  And I'm sure there is a "Please" thrown in there too (especially by us Southerners - we want to pray politely now, don't  we).  "So, what's wrong with that?", you must be asking yourself.  We'll I'll tell you what's "wrong wit' dat".  But allow me first to completely twist around an old Bible story to fit the topic of this admonition.  The story of Gideon.

Gideon, if you recall, was the smallest man, in the smallest family, in the smallest tribe of Israel (which was possibly the smallest country in ancient times - but I really don't know for sure). God sent an angel to Gideon to tell him he was about to have a huge career change.  Farmer to Army general.  (And I can't even get promoted to Assistant to the Manager!)  So Gideon, who is very suspicious of this enormous promotion...and clearly is not afraid enough of this angel, decides to get cute. And test God by asking Him to make some fleece wet (If more angels looked like this there would be way less fleece-wetting...maybe more pants-wetting...actually, I think angels probably DO resemble this.)

Now, let me just say, that for the record, Gideon could have done a lot better in the "Test God" department.  Really, you want God to wet some fleece.  This is what it will take to convince you to leave your farm and go fight an enormous army of Midianites with 300 men.  Lovely.  This is God of all Creation, right? The Beginning and the End, right?  What about ripping a hole in the time-space continuum, send me back through time and let me ride a Tyrannosaurus Rex whilst screaming like a wild Israelite barbarian. Maybe throw in a wild barbarian babe (who would of course be my wife) to ogle my huge muscles as I rip through the Cretaceous rain forest on my crazy man-eating T-Rex. Then maybe let that dinosaur come back with me (the girl has to stay, because I'm already married on this side of the time warp) and I'll ride that reptilian beast all over some stinkin' Midianites.  I bet they don't got no dinosaur!  Now, THAT would convince me to fight an army with 300 men. Well, at least it would have been more interesting.  But fleece it is. 

So, the story goes that God whittles Gideon's army from about 30,000 to a lean 300.  And off they go.  With trumpets and lanterns.  And of course they defeat the Midianites.  I say "of course" because it was not Gideon and his men that did it.  It was God.  It was God's fight.  God's war. It was God that defeated the army.  To be quite honest, God really didn't need Gideon or his 300 men.  But you already knew that. And it's the same way with us.

When we ask God to help us accomplish His will, I wonder if he snickers or gets offended or maybe He is so surprised He spews His water all over heaven.  Maybe what we should be asking is for Him to include us in accomplishing His will.  You know He wants to. He loves us. He loved Gideon. He wants to include us in his plans. His adventures. His accomplishments. His battles.  And we get to be part of something much larger than ourselves, something greater then we could ever ask or imagine.  (Maybe even riding a dinosaur? Probably not).  

So instead of deluding ourselves into thinking that we are so important to the kingdom of God and that the work we do is so high and mighty and holy, let's humble ourselves before our King.  And remember that, in the words of the song by John Mark McMillan and covered by the David Crowder band, [God]" loves like a hurricane and I am the tree. Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy."  Let's never forget how small we really are in His amazing Presence.  And be honored that He actually desires us to help Him.

The Wee Passion of the Faithless (and other Limericks)

While driving to work yesterday I passed a car with this license plate:  FATH LST.

Now my first instinct was to think that this poor wretch had lost their faith, but I hadn't yet considered other alternatives for the 70 mph word puzzle.  So  I tried a few out in my head: 

Alternative 1) Fat H-List...I had no idea what that could possibly mean

Alternative 2) Faith List...a list of faiths...strange, but possible

Alternative 3) Farth Lahoost..which of course we all know is the name of the iconic Irish touring dance troupe to celebrate the Northern Irish Wee Knickerbocker Brigade....OK, that's a lie....because when I passed him...he clearly was not wee.

OK, so now I'm faced with what is clearly this person's attempt to push their religion, lost or otherwise, on me. Then it occurred to me that I am passionate about a few things that I would think keen to have on my license plate in order to let the world know about me as I fly by them on the highway. But it takes real commitment to actually get it on my plate, not to mention money which I am loathe to part with.  So, this person who lost their faith was so passionate about losing it that they went down to the DMV, stood in line for at least 36 hours (they actually rent cots now I think), tried out a few vanity plates that had already been taken, paid the money, then waited by the mailbox to get it, and then put it on their car.  (It literally takes an act of Congress for me just to put my Registration Tag on mine every year).  That is real, genuine passion and commitment about NOT having their faith. This person is so angry at God, they want the world to know how angry and was commited enough to go through not a few obstacles to make it happen. 

 What if I was so joyful for God's love for me that I was willing to have the same commitment to tell the world.  The Lord  convicted me of this using a person who lost their faith...sometimes God is weird.  Does anyone else feel that way sometimes?