By Pastor Greg...
John received a letter the other day from his old girlfriend. She wrote:
Dear
John, I have been unable to sleep since I broke off our engagement. Won't you
forgive and forget? Your absence is breaking my heart. I was a fool, nobody can
take your place. I love you. All my
love, Belinda xxxxoooxxxx
P.S.
Congratulations on winning last week's Powerball lottery.
Do you think she really loved John? What did Belinda really love? The money,
of course. Poor girl; she was placing
her trust in the wealth… something Jesus describes as Mammon.
Jesus calls the earthly
things we trust our “Mammon.” It’s an
Aramaic word which means “money, worldly wealth, or worldly resources.” These are the people who tend to live in the shelter of
their retirement fund or their accumulated wealth and possessions; the more they
have, the more secure they feel. Sadly,
this doesn’t just happen to non-Christians; even believers tend to find their security in the “treasures
of this world” instead of placing their trust in the LORD.
And neither is this a new
problem; even the people of Israel struggled to trust in the LORD. In the Old Testament, God spoke to Israel
through the prophets. Speaking through
Isaiah, the LORD said, “without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for
help. You have put your trust in
Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to
hide in his shade” [1]
(Isaiah 30:2). God warns that all who
trust in the Pharaoh will be ashamed; he will not help the nation (Isaiah
30:5). People and empires will
disappoint; they are as frail as breath (Isaiah 2:22).
It's not like God never proved He could be trusted. In the Old Testament, we read of God rescuing Israel from
a whole slew of enemies. When the
Assyrian army was camped right outside the gates of Jerusalem, the LORD struck
down 185,000 enemy soldiers in a single night (2 Kings 19:35). So confident was King Jehoshaphat in the
protection of God that Jerusalem’s army marched out against its enemies with
the Temple Singers leading the way (2 Chronicles 20:21). God parted waters, provided food and water,
and led Israel into many victories as the nation marched through the
wilderness. Time, and time again, Israel
saw the protective shelter of God’s wings. Jeremiah suggests that people are blessed when
they, “trust in
the Lord, and have made the Lord their hope and confidence”[2]
(Jeremiah 17:7).
Some people of Israel did believe this: they believed God had been protecting and would continue to protect. For example, with great confidence the author of Psalm 91
says that God alone is a refuge and and a shelter.
1 “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the
Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust
him. 3 For he will
rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly
disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and
protection. 5 Do not be
afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6 Do not dread the disease
that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday” [3]
(Psalm 91:1-6).
In these verses, the
psalmist speaks, with confidence, that God does indeed provide protection and
shelter to those who love Him. Those who
make a choice to “dwell in the shelter of
the Most High,” will find rest in His
shadow.
Does God still do this today?
Based on current observations,
it sure seems that God is either not
protecting us, or that His protection is fragile… full of holes and flaws. Even Christians experience tragedies and
loss. Bad things happen to a lot of good
and innocent people. And we are left to
wonder what God was doing while we faced disasters on our own.
But were we really alone?
I know it seems like we face
adversity on our own. I know it feels
like God pulled back the shelter of His wings and allowed sickness and sorrow
to rain down upon us. But, were we
really alone? Did we truly face
the full force of that misfortune? Were
we really exposed to the full fury of
the tragedy, or, did we merely experience the precise amount that God knew we
could endure?
I don’t think we will ever
know that answer in this life, but we must assume that God intervened in some
way. He, Himself, has promised to watch
over us and protect us. He has said no
one will snatch us from His hand. What
is it that Paul said about our LORD? “But we know that to those who love God all things work
together for good” [4]
(Romans 8:28). Either His promise is true, or He is a liar.
I choose to believe God’s
promise is true. I choose to believe that in all of life’s ups and
downs, God has covered me with His wings.
And when I feel a few painful
drops, I believe God has spared me the
full deluge that would have washed me away.
I choose to believe this because God has made a promise.
As Christians, we must
understand that God’s goal in our life is not to make us happy but to help us become more like
Jesus. To shape us into someone holy, the
Father chisels away at our worldliness.
Sometimes the blows we face can be painful, but they are designed to
reshape us and mold us into the kind of person who reflects Jesus in this
world. It’s never an easy process. But, rather than allow the process to destroy
us, God permits just enough affliction to erode away our worldliness… leaving
behind someone stronger, refined, and holy – more like Jesus.
To what extent does God
protect us and shelter us? Enough to
refine us and shape us, but not so much that we are crushed and destroyed. And perhaps the blows of His chisel hurt
because we resist being molded and reformed; we remain stubborn and
stiff-necked. Our hearts are like stone. Rather than trusting in the LORD, we tend to
build our own shelter – our own “Hedge of protection.” Perhaps we have given our trust to man-made
institutions or have stored up “treasures on earth.” Unfortunately, these are
the very things that “moth and rust” destroy (Matthew 6:19). And when we make something else our Mammon – when we take shelter under
something other than God – our relationship with God is damaged. “No one can serve two masters,” says Jesus. “He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will
be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth”[5]
(Matthew 6:24).
I understand that it is
difficult to trust in what you cannot see.
It’s difficult to place our worries and concerns into the hands of the
Lord – to give Him our fears for tomorrow.
But He has made us a promise. God
has promised to shelter us under His wings.
Either the LORD God was lying when He made this promise, or He was
telling the truth.
The author of Psalm 91 was
willing to place his very life into the hands of God (verse 2). In what you trust is a choice you will have
to make. But, remember: you cannot trust in God AND something else; you cannot
serve two masters.
[1]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Is 30:2). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Je 17:7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ps 91:1–6). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[4]Newberry,
T., & Berry, G. R. (2004). The
interlinear literal translation of the Greek New Testament (Ro
8:28). Bellingham, WA.
No comments:
Post a Comment