Obedience Is the Way to Awesome

Behold! Not a word we're really accustomed to using, but it grabs our attention, doesn't it? We tend to be "Listen!" or "Check this out!" sort of people. But God? Whether it's Behold!, Listen up!, or Get a load of this!, when He says it's going to be awesome, He means it.

In Exodus 34:10, God is renewing His covenant with His people, Israel. Behold! is just the beginning:

I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

The Complete Jewish Bible says, What I am going to do through you will be awesome! 

Imagine that! Awesome! Through His people! Where do your thoughts go? Are you picturing throngs of people moving forward in an emotional altar call? Are you seeing homeless and women's shelters spanning the globe? How about luscious green crops growing in the once barren fields of an impoverished country? How about those children we have been praying for night after terrible night, finally falling on their faces before our Lord God? Awesome! 

God goes on:

Observe what I command you this day. (Exodus 34:11)

Okay, God! You got it, God! Anything You say, God!

Don't get too friendly with the world. In fact, shed their garments, break their molds, reject the things they love, and maybe even annoy them a little --okay, a lot. Don't give yourselves or your children to them. Don't imitate them or try to integrate their practices into worshiping Me. Eat matzoh. Give me your first born. Redeem your firstborn. Rest 1/7 of your life. Celebrate the ingathering and Shavuot and Passover. Keep kosher. (Exodus 34:12-28, my paraphrase)

And that's it? No battles? No fundraisers? No preaching or teaching? No healing services? No social justice warriors? 

Nope. Just live as I've instructed you to live. Obey Me.

Doesn't sound very awesome, does it? Not by our standards. In fact, it sounds downright dull, and it's incredibly difficult. There are no peaks and valleys; this land is flat and you can see its perpetuity for as long as they keep making calendars. Wash, rinse, repeat. Steady as she goes. Obey, obey, obey. The small things... Obey. The big things... Obey. The good days... Obey. The bad days... Obey.

Obedience is the pathway to awesome --the way God defines it. Thirty years of punching the same clock, sharing your faith with the same renitent coworkers is the way to awesome. Countless years of pastoring a church, answering the midnight phone calls of people who never seem to follow your counsel anyway, is the way to awesome. Teaching tiny hands to tie their shoes and fold together in prayer is the way to awesome. Day after day, night after night of living a life that will never make the pages of this world's newspapers or gain the attention and accolades of even one celebrated politician, is the way to awesome. Who knows, there might be a faraway mission field or a podcast in your future; but only if God calls you to it, only if God says, This is the way, walk in it. It's going to be awesome!

Photo courtesy Mark Sutherland

Learning with Luci

"The dog really needs to get locked up," my husband advised, as I was preparing to join him in moving a bulky toolbox down a flight of steps. "No," I said, "because she's going to sit."

Place! I gave the command and Luci took her place, sitting obediently nearby.

I had no reservations about her staying put; when it comes to certain things, our dog is just a rockstar! Other things, however, like resisting cats, squirrels, dogs, rabbits, deer --pretty much anything with four legs-- well, that's a whole different story. I have been working with Luci to overcome her reactivity to other animals and the neighbor who likes to do push-ups out front of his house. Four "legs," remember? When Luci reacts, I command her to lie down and together we wait. We wait until her brow unfurrows. We wait until she no longer grips the ground with her front paws. We wait until she looks at me when I calmly call her name. We wait. It may take only a minute or two; it may take fifteen or twenty. The neighbors may start popping their heads out to ascertain why, exactly, I've been standing outside their home all morning. I might have somewhere I need to be. But if I want this done right, we wait.

The other morning, another dog drew her attention. Down! We began to wait. As the clock ticked, a dog barked, increasing Luci's anxiety. Moments later, a squirrel chuck-chucked as he scampered down a nearby tree. About the time I considered resuming our walk, a cat darted across our path and Luci's brow wrinkled once again. Twenty-five minutes after leaving the house, and we hadn't made it a tenth of a mile. It was maddening. You can give up and this will never improve, came the reminder, or you can stick it out and experience a more permanent way of dealing with all of this. The strange thing was, I wasn't sure if the reminder was referring to Luci or referring to some of the things with which I struggle on the regular.

We love shortcuts, right? Our computers are loaded with them, we all know the shortest way to get to the places we frequent, and who hasn't fallen down the "life hack" rabbit hole a time or two? But when it comes to dealing with those nasty little --or big-- habits, when it comes to dealing with sin, shortcuts don't cut it. We have to put in the work.

1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, our first step needs to be confession. As we take on some very practical new behaviors (pausing to consider the natural consequences of our actions, engaging an accountability partner, talking to a professional counselor, etc.) we can rest on some very important truths:

He is no stranger to temptation. 

He will help us if we ask.

He died for our sins --past, present, and future, so holiness is not some impossible pursuit. 

He knows our hearts better than we do. 

He loves us anyway and has promised to never leave us.

We can be assured, in our weakness, God is glorified; He will help us in our struggle, strengthening and encouraging us, even allowing us to sin so that we might learn a greater lesson and give Him the glory. But if we want it done right, we have to put in the work and trust that in God's time, we will see improvement. 

No Time to Multi-Task

My husband thinks he can multi-task. His attempts at doing so usually result in my repeating myself.

So, I wasn't able to get to the bank today because the dentist had a cancellation and wanted to change my appointment to 2:00. I wasn't scheduled until 4:30, but that means I wouldn't be home until after 5; why not take advantage of the earlier appointment? They didn't call until 1, though, and it was all I could do to get there by 2. Of course, by the time I got out the bank was closed.

Scott, looking up from his phone: So, were you able to make it to the bank?

*sigh*

My female brain, on the other hand, allows me to be pretty good at it. I can prepare dinner, keep track of weekend plans, manage the grocery list, and remember to give Mom her vitamins. But, even with a relatively sharp multi-tasking machine atop my shoulders, I have my limitations. What occurred to me the other day was, God does not.

Take for instance, Christ's resurrection. What was going on at the exact moment Jesus emerged from the tomb? Was a ewe giving birth on a hillside? Was a child's fever breaking for the first time in days? Were the crumpled new wings of a butterfly finally bursting forth from its hours-long struggle? Was a bud exchanging its life for a bloom? Was a mother listening to her baby's heart beat for the very last time?

Matthew 27:45-53 recalls the remarkable events that occurred at Jesus' death: darkness, an earthquake, the rending of the temple curtain, and the dead raised to life, walking about. Verse 54 records, at the very least, an anticipated response: "So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, 'Truly this was the Son of God!'” But at His resurrection --exact moment undisclosed!-- we're told of guards at work, women eager to finish preserving their Teacher's body, the disciples probably sitting Shiva with Mary and most likely afraid they would be next. All things in this world, as we know them to be, continuing normally. And God not even breaking a sweat. Life was now coursing through the physical body of Jesus Christ, His limbs plumping up as blood began to flow, His brain igniting nerves and nerves awakening muscles. Breath filled His lungs. Wounds were healed. And God didn't ask one creature to repeat themselves. The planets didn't pause. There was no hiccup in the circle of life. God didn't turn the radio down or tell everyone in the backseat to quiet down so He could think for a minute. God sustained all of creation at the very same instant He raised to life His only begotten Son. At the very moment He was reversing Christ's human mortality, God was also speaking to the wind and the waves, preparing the sun for a new day, and calling the stars back home. 

How important it is to focus on who God is and who we are not. As sophisticated as our brains are, as many talents as we have been given, when it comes to giving our attention to God, we need to put all of our multi-tasking to the side. We need to take that time each day to read in His words who He is, to think about what we've learned and ask Him what it is we're suppose to learn anew, and be still so we hear Him when He speaks. All this He has done, so much more He longs to give us, but our minds and hearts need to be centered on Him alone in a time that belongs to Him alone.

For Such a Time As This

A nefarious villain has contrived a plan whereby you, your family, and all of your relations will be exterminated. Your uncle believes you might have some leverage with the local authorities, but it's going to require some risk: you might be executed. You resist-- I mean, who wouldn't --but the seed has been planted, and Unc's words ring in your ears: Who knows if this isn't the very reason you were put here? You step up, the villain is defeated, and your purpose in life is celebrated throughout eternity. Can't you just hear the roar of the crowd?

My modern, extremely abbreviated adaptation of the book Esther aside, God has created each one of us for a reason. Westminster catechism says that our "chief end", our greatest reason for being, is "to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai, when encouraging Esther to stand up and expose Haman's conspiracy against the Jewish people, cautions her:

Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Easy to see the purpose for which Esther was created, she saved the people of God. It's all here in black and white. Or is it? If you read on, Esther did advocate for God's people, Esther did talk to the king about legislating a different ending for them and a much unexpected ending for Haman. Ta-da! But Esther is not our hero here. If the purpose of Scripture is to reveal who God is, perhaps Esther's purpose was more about revealing God's infinite knowledge of events, offering Esther, in this place at this time, an opportunity to do what God called her to do. Perhaps "purpose" was more about God's sovereignty, using Hadassah's (Esther's given, Israelite name) abduction for the good of His people; about God's hatred of evil, so much so He took swift action to put an end to it and spare His chosen. And speaking of His chosen, because of God's calling on Mordecai and Esther, and their obedience, the line of ancestry that would be Jesus' was preserved, God Incarnate would be born, our Savior would bear our sins and take them with Him to the grave; He would rise again, guaranteeing our resurrection, ascend to Heaven to prepare for the arrival of those who, He has chosen to be sons and daughters of God. Talk about purpose!

So what is God calling you to do today? Save a nation? Right a wrong? Well the truth of it is your obedience will always point to God's purpose. So let's just glorify God with our whole being and enjoy Him forever. For such a time as this.