Fear and Negotiations from Genesis 18 and 19

The drama.   The love.  The relationship.  The lies.  All the stuff that makes up today's soap operas. Well, who am I fooling, all the stuff that makes up our lives today, we find in  Genesis 17, 18 and 19.

It's impossible to touch on every point, the intermingling of God and man is so detailed...so deep.  But I want to share some things that I love about these chapters and some things that I ponder over, mull over, wonder about.

Some things that I love are, how the relationship with God and Abraham is so. very. real.  I love that God speaks a "timeline" to Abraham pertaining to when He will have a son.

 "About this time next year you will have a son..."

And he not only says it once, but twice, almost as if to confirm to Abraham.  Because we're like that right?  In our human-ness.  We hear God, but we seek confirmation.  I like it that God OFTEN gives confirmation.

I also like that Abraham could express his feelings to God.  Negotiate even.  For right after God speaks of Abe having a son, he then moves on to,

"and by the way, we're on our way to Sodom and Gomorrah, to, well, basically, destroy the city."

 God had heard the cries of the victims there.  The city was vile.  Steeped in sin.  God was going to see if it was indeed as bad as He thought it was, and if so...He was going to destroy it.

Abraham literally steps in front of God and begins saying,

 "but what if there are GOOD people in this bad city??  Will you save it on behalf of the good people???"

If you've never read this, believe me, it's worth the read.  click here.

Long story short, God says that yes, if he finds good people there, He'll save the city.

However, He gets there, and it's just as bad as He thought it was.  He destroys the city.  All but Lot, Abraham's nephew, and Lot's wife and two daughters.

God tells Lot to gather his wife and daughters, get out of the city, head to the mountains, and don't look back.  Lot, however, is too fearful to go to the mountains.  So, he "negotiates" with God to  seek protection in a nearby town instead.  On the way to that town, Lot's wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. So, she's gone.  And oddly enough, even though they went to the nearby city, in the end, they end up in the mountains anyway.

In the mountains, the two daughters fear that their family line will end, for it is just the two of them and their father living in a cave.  SO, they come up with this wise plan to get their dad drunk, sleep with him and become pregnant so that their family line will continue.  One daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab, the ancestor of the Moabites.  The other daughter had a son and named him Ben Ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites.

Here are the things I ponder.  Mull over.  Wonder about.

Abraham "standing" in the way of God and "negotiating" as God heads to Sodom and Gomorrah.  If not for Abraham would God have saved Lot?  For it says this in Genesis 19:

29...and that's the story; when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he was mindful of Abraham and first got Lot out of there before He blasted those cities off the face of the Earth.

and if Lot would have just had the faith to head to the mountains first, instead of negotiating to go to the other nearby town, might things have ended up different for Him?  God, after all, was SAVING  him.  Delivering him from imminent destruction and he didn't trust him to go where he was telling him to go???

Which brings up another great point; even when God is offering us a way out, it takes faith to take it!!!

So, because of Abe, God saves Lot, but in the end, Lot's daughter's sleep with their Dad and give birth to the Moabites and Ammonites who then become two of Israel's (Abraham's) greatest enemies.

In summary.  Though we CAN negotiate with God, does it always end up to our benefit to do so?

What if we choose NOT to negotiate.  What if we just choose to trust Him.  To trust His ways.  To bow to His sovereignty.  Even when we're scared.  Fearful.  Frightened.  What if we just trust Him, knowing that He is for us and not against us and that He'll do the right thing.

Would our lives perhaps, just perhaps, be messed up less if we choose to stay out of His way, instead of stand in His way?

Even the genealogy brings encouragement...

I'm reading in Matthew this morning.   Starting at chapter 1.  Good place to start, eh?

Except that, chapter 1 starts with the genealogy of Jesus.  BORING.  I sooooo wanted to skip it.

Except for, I felt like the Spirit was saying "read it."

So, drudgingly, I forced myself to read through...Abe was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob.  Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.  Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar)...and on, and on, and on...

As certain names popped up, I was reminded of a couple of things:

1.  Jesus' family wasn't perfect either.
2.  God used imperfect people to do His will.

And...He wants to use you.... and me.

Though people messed up, and weren't perfect, God's plan continued and continues to unfold, and that plan, my friend, includes you.

You know the bible is alive and active when even a boring genealogy encourages you.

Relax...Breathe...Even in the Middle of LIfe's Craziness...

It was a hot summer day and my friend, Jennifer, had brought her boys over to swim in our pool.

Simon, the young toddler, not yet knowing how to swim, and in water over his head, had been enjoying the pool with his "floaties" fitting comfortably on his arms keeping the little man perfectly content in the water.

Until he panicked.

His Mom, sitting just outside the pool, kept asking him, "Simon, what's wrong?!"

Simon wouldn't answer.  He would only scream and cry.  The more upset he became, the more his body was also showing his panic as he began to wail and flail in the water. 

As he continued to panic, cry out, and splash around it indeed looked like he was in trouble, even though we knew if he calmed down he'd be fine.

His older brother Isaac was in the pool close by him, so Jennifer asked Isaac to check on Simon.  Isaac, annoyed by his much younger brother, turned quickly  to Simon and with much authority said these oh, so, wise words.  Words that I often need to hear when I'm wailing and flailing through one of life's circumstances...

"Simon!  You're FINE!"

Simon immediately stilled.

Jennifer, still concerned, followed up with a "Simon, are you okay?"

I will forever remember Simon's answer.

"I thought I wasn't okay, but Isaac told me I was fine."

Breathe.

Sometimes, in the middle of life's craziness, we just need to be told...

"you're fine"

"you're going to make it"

Maybe your world has been rocked.  Maybe you're in a panic state. 

I'm not denying that there are situations of REAL danger.  Nor am I denying that there are situations that are unhealthy for you and you might need to make some changes.

But most of the time for me, I panic over circumstances that aren't life or death.  They're just, quite frankly, unpleasant circumstances.

I may feel like I'm in over my head, and may indeed be treading water so hard that I can barely keep my head above the waves of life's circumstances.  But in that place, like Simon, I have to still myself...calm down...and in the stillness realize that I'm fine...and the reason I'm fine is because my hope is in the Lord.

Lord, my heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty.

I don't concern myself with matters to great or too awesome for me to grasp.

instead I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk.  Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Oh Israel, put your hope in the Lord---

now and always.

Breathe. 

You're fine.

I Saw God Today...In a conversation with a client.

I saw God today in a conversation with a client.

It was simple small talk.  About Volleyball of all things.  My daughter plays.  His daughter plays.

He didn't know it, but what he was saying, I needed to hear.  To be reminded of.

He was talking about how volleyball is really a "mind" game.

It's more of a battle of the mind, than a physical battle.  He was saying that the players who  have the ability to regain focus quickly after making an error, are the ones who do the best.

You have to leave it behind, and focus clearly and confidently on what is happening now.

Push the reset button on your brain.

I believe it's the same in life.  We can't wallow in negativity.  Or constant complaining.  Or constant regret.

We need to look for the positive in situations, things to be thankful for instead of things to curse, and fix our minds on that.

The Bible says it like this:

Philippians 4:8
summing it all up friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse.  Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Thankful for the reminder that the enemy wants to steal our joy, and that battle primarily takes place in the mind.

Thankful for the way the Lord spoke to my heart.  In a much deeper way than just speaking to me about volleyball.

Thankful that in the middle of doing normal everyday life....I saw God today.

He Offers His Very Own Presence to cheer and to guide us...

"pardon for sin and a peace that endureth....Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide...."

every once in a while the "ordinary" becomes "extraordinary".  The "natural" becomes "supernatural".

Every once in a while, while worshiping, even using a song that I've worshiped with 100 times before, a line will jump off the page and take on new life to me.  Like a tall, refreshing drink of water, normal words will refresh my whole being.

That's what happened this past Sunday for me.  As I was leading the congregation in the song "Great is Thy Faithfulness"....I got to the part that says, "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide..."

As I sang that line I was reminded of what had just happened that morning in my quiet time.  There had been a couple of things in my life that were disturbing my peace. Greatly.  There, in my quiet time, I prayed about those two things, I talked to God about what was bothering me, and then I opened up my Bible and began to read the scripture that went with that days devotion.  Lo and behold, God dealt with the two things that were bothering me in the passages of scripture that were opened before me.

How does He do that?

It was seriously as if I asked Him a question....and He answered.

"call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know."  Jeremiah 33:3

As I sang the line "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide."  I had a renewed gratefulness for his faithfulness.  And I thought, "why do we skip quiet time?  why do we NOT stop and call upon the Lord?"  He offers His very own presence to cheer and to guide us.

So many times while reading HIS Word, it become more than just words on a page, it becomes His embrace.

Give Him the chance to embrace YOU through His word today.

AND, when you worship Him through song, think about what you're singing about, and let Him meet you in the midst of the song.

He inhabits our praises. (Psalm 22:3)