Commanded Not To Feel

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Jos 1:9 AV)

Did you notice the word ‘command’?  We think we have the right to feel what we feel.  We think we have the right to feel fear, anxiety, or a host of other emotions.  We think we are subject to them like the air around us.  Yet, this is not the LORD’s attitude toward our emotions.  One could argue strength and courage are things that we do.  Or, things we are despite how we feel.  Fear and being dismayed are pure emotions.  One could argue God commands us to act in faith despite our emotions rather than conquer them beforehand or in the process of living in faith.  However, the text does not support this.  It seems the LORD has commanded Joshua to cease fear and dismay.  He has told Joshua to stop feeling that way.  I cannot help but notice this theme has been constant over the last few days.

Some might argue emotions are from the LORD for a designed purpose.  True.  For example, we live in a not-so-safe neighborhood.  There have been a couple of murders over the last five years.  There have been a couple of SWAT raids as well.  There was a mugging not too long ago.  We’ve had multiple traffic stops with guns drawn.  There is now drug activity and prostitution around our neighborhood. It is wise to be concerned.  It is wise to fear.  This motivates me to secure my home as best I can.  I lock all windows and doors at night.  I have multiple locks at all our entry points.  Others are barricaded so on the outside chance our outer walls are breached, it would be difficult to go further.  Lastly, my bedroom is bolted with a deadbolt when we retire for the night.  This is wise and prudent.  Fear motivated me to make our home as secure as it possibly could be.  There is nothing wrong with this.  In fact, the book of Proverbs talks about the simple-minded who see trouble ahead and take no precaution against it.  They are called fools.  Once we have done all we can do, it is time to stop feeling the way we do.  We do not have liberty.  To do so is to cut God short of what He can and may do.

It is natural to feel the way we do.  But let us remember we feel the way we do because we are fallen creatures.  We are not like the animal kingdom which feels as they do for good reason.  Their emotional response is instinctive.  It is God’s given ability for them to survive and populate.  They are overly cautious when they feel threatened.  They can tell when something is not quite right.  But they also know when things are just fine.  How do I know?  Because deer can tell when it is hunting season and when it is not.  While visiting a wilderness place from my childhood, a deer came out of the woods and stood on a dirt road not 75 yards from me.  Upwind!  It did not spook.  It actually stood there out in the open for as long as we were there taking pictures.  If it was deer season, that deer would have bolted across the road into another wood lot with its tail waving in the air.  They react emotionally because there is reason to.  We, however, are cursed with reason and intelligence.  These have replaced instinct.  This allows us to take reasonable risks.  But it also curses us with overthinking and minimizes what God can do if we trust in Him. We are not entitled to feel emotions that limit what God can do.  We are commanded to surrender them.  And that is what we must do.

There Is A Reason

“For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.” (De 32:47 AV)

The thing to which the LORD is referring is the experiences Israel is having while wandering in the wilderness.  The hardships of their pilgrimage are actually their saving grace.  We have to remember they have come from a situation of bondage where their captors took care of their basic needs.  Egypt supplied food, shelter, and protection from enemies.  In turn, Israel supplied hard labor to build their cities and pyramids.  Sort of like where our nation is quickly headed.  Once the populace is controlled by the benefits of the government, the government will collect their due!  But I digress.  Israel is now free.  They had not been free for over four hundred years.  This was new to them.  They had to learn how to become a strong nation.  This can only be learned through hardships and trials.  Through crisis, they were made stronger.  They had to learn hard things because their future required them to do hard things.  Therefore, what seemed to be pointless was not.  The future would tell the story of why the LORD had them suffer in the present.  It was for their own good and purpose in life

This reminds me of the movie Karate Kid.  Remember that one?  The movie was about a young man who wanted to learn the martial arts.  He could not afford to go to a school, and the school he wished to attend wouldn’t accept him.  So, he lived with an older oriental man who was a grand master in the martial arts.  In exchange for serving as his house boy, the master promised to teach the young student the art of Karate.  Mixed into the storyline was a constant theme of, what seemed to be, pointless chores required of the young man.  One of those chores was to daily wash and wax the master’s car.  How often does one need their car washed, anyway?  Not daily.  There were other chores this young man performed as well.  But it was this car-washing chore that most moviegoers remember to this day. Why?  Because this young man had finally had enough.  He was not learning any karate and it seemed as though all he was doing was chores.  He finally snapped.  He vented his frustration at the master and complained that he was being used.  All he did was chores and he hadn’t had one karate lesson.  The master took the young man into his studio and commanded he block the thrusts of the old man’s hands.  This he did instinctively.  Then the old man said, “Wax on, Wax off”.  What the young man did not realize is that through the hardships of labor, he was actually building muscle memory which would translate into his stated goal of learning the martial arts.

It is hard to endure tough times when we cannot see the purpose behind it.  This is the time to give the LORD the benefit of the doubt.  He has a plan. He knows where He wants us to go and what it will take for us to get there.  He knows the experiences we need.  He knows the training we must strive to complete.  There is a plan.  There is a purpose.  There is nothing we will go through which is not part of God’s strategy.  There is no fate.  There is no change.  There are no random events of life that happen in and of their own design.  It is all part of what God desires from the life He created and granted to us by the wonders of His grace.  Most of the time, we cannot see the purpose.  Sometimes we can.  Most of the time, we do not.  Faith is necessary to navigate through times of life that are unbearable.  God does not owe us an answer.  He does not owe us an explanation.  He almost always gives one, but we are not entitled to it.  Simple trust and obedience are all that is required.  Doing so with gratitude knowing it will someday make sense is the way to please the LORD.  It is not in vain.  It does have a purpose.  Yielding to the circumstances of our divine appointment and seeking ways to use it for the glory of God is the best way to transverse our time on this planet.  Otherwise, we will be full of questions that may not have answers and misery over lack of comfort.  It is not in vain.

Not The Better of Two Options. The Perfect Option.

“I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” (Ps 61:4 AV)

We quote the second part of the verse without really understanding what David is saying here.  There is more than meets the eye.  The covert of the wings is a specific thing.  The word means covering.  How wings cover is the point here.  The Tabernacle is a fully enclosed dwelling.  No threat can be perceived or welcomed.  A covering made of wings, not so much.  Most hens will partially cover their chicks.  Simply put, her wings cannot form a bowl for the chicks to hide in.  Therefore, even though they are safe, the threat can still be perceived.  So, there is a dynamic of conflict here.  The chicks must choose to trust in the cover of their mother's wings while still able to perceive that which threatens them.  Both safety and danger are in view.  It all depends upon which the chick succumbs to.  He is either going to completely trust in what his mother or father can provide, or he will cower in fear never truly feeling safe.

There is a difference between trusting and taking the better of two options.  Imagine you are hunting in a vast wilderness and a storm arises in the west.  You can see the snow coming down like a great blanket from the sky.  You know if you try to get back to your truck over ten miles away, you are not going to make it.  In the distance, heading toward the storm, you see the mouth of a cave.  You don’t know what is in that cave.  It could be a bear’s den.  There could be disease-carrying bats inside.  It could be damp with nowhere to stay dry.  There may not be a way to vent smoke if you were to build a fire.  While anyone find you in such a remote place if feet of snow covered your tracks leading to the cave?  There are a hundred other risks that go through your mind but as much as the cave would be a risk, the approaching storm is the much worse choice. So, toward the cave, you go.  This is choosing the better of two options.  This is not trusting in the cave.  This is resigning to the cave.  This is not trusting in the sense there is nothing to worry about.  This is resigning to the better of two options as though there is less to worry about in the cave than there is if you tried to get back to your truck.

When David says he will trust in the covert of God’s wings, he is not saying he will trust in God’s protection from threat as a better choice than the threat itself.  He is not saying that if another better option presented itself than the covert of God’s wings, he would take that other choice.  Implied in the word trust is David’s decision to live in the protection of God’s shadow without regard to any risk that may be involved.  There is complete and total trust here.  Comparing the cover of God’s wings to an enclosed tabernacle is the key.  An enclosed space where no threat could permeate is not just the better option.  It is the best option.  There is no worry or fear over that which cannot be seen.  The tabernacle hides the saint from perceiving any and all threats.  The cover of God’s wings should be felt in the same way, even though the threat can still be seen.  This is a hard place in which to be.  One, by nature, is alarmed at what can be perceived even though reason and faith say something different.  To get to the place where we trust the LORD even though danger is still evident is almost impossible. But still attainable.  This we must do!

Rejoice In Every Good Thing

“And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.” (De 26:11 AV)

There is so much packed into this little verse.  There is an assumption made that God does and will give good things.  This need not be proven.  This is an absolute that we assume to be true.  Second, the good thing which the LORD gives, He gives to the house and the stranger as well.  The good thing given to us is also enjoyed by those with whom we have to do.  The word ‘every’ preceding the good thing suggests there is far more than one good thing.  It is the word ‘rejoice’ that caught my eye this morning.  It seems as though we are doing less and less of this these days.  The world tries to convince us we should be worried, anxious, and miserable.  It then attempts to provide the answer through mankind’s efforts to make life better.  Whether it is an empty promise of a leader, a new drug, or some new possession, the world tears us down and then tries to build us back up in its image.  We are far more blessed than we realize.  It would behoove us to take stock of just how many good things God has given and instead of complaining about that which we do not have, rather, rejoice in how good God has been to us.

Sometimes, it is the simplest of things that remind us of how good God is and has been, to us.  Growing up, my father bought an abandoned potato farm and turned it into a camping wilderness.  He planted hundreds, if not a thousand, pine trees on his little plot of land. He had a half-acre pond dug and stocked it with pan fish.  Eventually, there would be a cabin built there.  It has been more than thirty-five years since I have been there, and before he died, my Dad sold it off.  I have lived in five different counties and four different states.  The last time I went back to my home state was six years ago.  We went back a few weeks ago and my father-in-law took us to an amazing place for breakfast.  This place is only open for two months while the maple tree sap is running.  Their promotion is buckwheat pancakes and homemade syrup.  I am not a big fan of pancakes, but these were amazing.  This place was only five miles from my father’s tree farm.  So, my gracious father-in-law took us there.  I had mixed feelings about going there and was too afraid being there would stir some memories I fought hard to suppress.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at how I felt.  Of all the memories I had of that place, there is one that stuck out in my mind.  It was the one thing about that place that brought me back to fond memories.  Believe it or not, it was the wind.  The wind, as it traveled through those high scotch pines, made a unique sound.  It is hard to explain because there is no other sound like it.  That sound and smell of the pines is what calmed a young man’s heart.  That sound was comforting and relaxing.  Many nights I would fall asleep with the wind whipping through those pines.  It reminded me of how good life can be.  And we owe it all to the LORD.

Life will always have deep waters.  Until eternity, mankind is foolish to think he can have a life free of all ills.  Because we introduced sin into God’s creation, we have to suffer trouble while in the flesh.  There is no escape from it.  This doesn’t mean the saint must live without joy.  The balance is remembering just how good God is, has been, and will be.  I will eternally thank the LORD for the sound of the whispering winds.  I will praise Him for the calming sound of His breath chasing through the mighty trees.  They swayed.  They moved.  The wind was indiscernible outside of the swaying trees and the whispering noise of the wind.  It was like God was speaking in a still small voice that all is well and even if we cannot feel the wind on our faces, He was still involved in our lives.  What a reminder of the ever-present God we love.  We may not always discern His hand, but have no doubt, that He is always active.  I am never alone.  God is always working.  Let us rejoice in the goodness of our LORD!

Finish Well

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” (1Pe 4:7 AV)

Peter wrote this almost two thousand years ago.  How can the end of all things be at hand?  Because it always is.  Or, we should live as though it is.  Whether it is the end of our life or the end of the dispensation of grace, it matters not.  We do not know the years of our pilgrimage.  We do not know if we will pass in our early years, or live to be very old.  We never know.  Death is always right around the corner.  The rapture could be at any time.  It could be tonight or a thousand years from now.  We simply do not know.  The advice of our loving and wise apostle is the live each day as though it is our last.  To that end, we must be sober, or serious-minded, and pray constantly.  For those who have fought hard and long, this verse is encouraging.  It is also a challenge.  This life is limited.  We have only so much we can do.  Because this life is limited, there is only so much the LORD will require of us.  He knows what we can and cannot handle.  The end is at hand.  The key is to finish as well as we started.

This brings me back to our Klondike Derby days.  This was a weekend in February when the Boy Scouts thought it was a great idea to tent camp in the middle of the coldest month of the year.  Most troops arrived on Saturday morning and competed during the day, then went home to a nice warm bed.  Not us!  No siree!  We arrived Friday night, pitched tents, and waited out the fridged weather in sleeping bags designed for the summer.  The next day our competition began bright and early.  We built a dog sled from old skies and wooden pallets.  Our competition was a timed competition where each patrol went through a course laid out in the woods, pushing or pulling that sled.  We stopped at several skills-testing stations like knot tying and first aid.  Overall time was a factor.  Did you ever try running through feet of snow pushing a sled with one of your fellow scouts riding along?  You may start out well, but running through the woods with thirty pounds of clothes and equipment on your frame has a way of wearing you out rather quickly.  Finishing at all was a feat in itself.  Not many patrols could finish.  Many quit before the finish line.  Not us!  It didn’t matter how we placed.  Often it was dead last.  But we were going to cross that finish line even if we had to crawl.  Once you broke through the woods and saw the finish line in the distance, you got your second wind.  The best we did was third place.  But that was out of thirty to forty teams.  And, we were the only ones to spend the night before in the woods.

Time is running out.  Our lives inch closer and closer to the conclusion.  It is not time to relax and coast to the end.  It is time to watch and pray.  For what?  What is it that should catch our eye?  What is it that we should be looking for?  Is it the end?  Or, is it a purpose of life considering the end is inevitable?  What is it we are supposed to be praying for?  Are we supposed to pray that God would hasten the end?  Or, is it that we might be faithful unto the end whenever that might be?  What we do see is Peter never suggests we are to wait out the clock.  We are not to run up the score and then coast to the end.  No.  Rather, because the end is always at hand, the watching and praying is in the context of time remaining and not the absence of time.  Eternity is not in focus here to the exclusion of the present.  Peter encourages us to watch and pray because time is fleeting.  There are fewer and fewer opportunities to serve the LORD in our human tabernacle.  The open doors to serve Him are becoming fewer and fewer.  Watch and pray because the end is at hand.  We must pray that as we had started our race, so we must finish it.  It does matter not how tired and worn out we are.  The race is still on and the tape has yet to be broken.  So, watch and pray because the finish line may be right around the next bend.

When We See Him

“And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.” (Joh 19:37 AV)

John is referring to the appearance of Jesus to Israel at the commencement of the Millennial reign.  When Jesus appears with the evidence of His crucifixion still on His person, they will realize that for two thousand years, they had rejected their Messiah.  There will be mourning and weeping for the rebellion of their nation.  But this verse brings to mind a conversation I had recently.  A good friend of mine is going through some very dark days right now.  My situation is similar in nature, but not in scope.  His water is much deeper.  We began to speak of heaven, and what it will be like when our eyes rest on our beloved Savior for the very first time.  Many questions reside in our hearts.  Questions whose answers may never come or may (in the light of eternity) not really matter.  There is only speculation at this time.  We can read what Jesus Christ looks like in the first part of the book of Revelation.  We can imagine what John might have meant by what he wrote.  We can only go so far in trying to picture the appearance of Christ as we shall see Him for the first time.  What is clear to me, anyway, is we will see Him for the first time and in an instant, understand divine love as we have never known it in this life.

My primary thought when musing with my friend was after we had bowed prone for an eternity, and finally looked up into the face of Jesus, we would see infinite love behind those eyes which we could never fully understand until we see Him.  We would see every event in life from the reference of that love.  What we might have thought to be too difficult in this life would be seen in the context of divine and infinite love.  When we see those scars we would finally understand the depth of love that drove Him to Calvary’s cross.  We speak of God’s love.  We teach and preach God’s love.  But there is no human equivalent to which we can make a comparison.  One can only imagine the compassion residing behind those eyes.  At first, we may be moved by the pure holiness of Jesus and shirk in humility and embarrassment over what we are.  To be in the presence of perfect holiness has got to be intimidating to an infinite degree.  Yet, in His great mercy and grace, He extends a hand and leads us to our knees;  then our feet.  He looks deep into our eyes and we into His, then we are overwhelmed by the perfect infinite love which is Christ our Savior.

When considering devotions this morning, I asked the LORD to bring me to a passage that does nothing more than glorify Him.  After all the entries on practical things of my Christian walk, I simply wanted to magnify and praise the LORD for being Him.  Salvation is very dear to me.  But if you are like me, we need to be reminded that salvation isn’t all about us.  In reality, it is all about Him!  He is the center of our mercy and forgiveness.  He deserves our praise.  He should be that which we most frequently exalt and not the benefits that we receive because of that grace.  His love is limitless.  His might is matchless.  He is the King of kings and LORD of lords.  Yet, loving the unlovely is not beneath Him.  Praise be to God for His wonderful works toward the children of men.

Fought For And With Us

“For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” (De 20:4 AV)

Israel is a picture of the journey of the N.T. saint.  As Israel went, so too may the N.T. saint experience his or her walk with God.  Israel’s deliverance from bondage is oft seen as a picture of salvation for the N.T. saint.  We are delivered from the bondage of sin.  We are made free in Christ.  Yet, the old man of sin hangs on and we must go through the process of practical sanctification as the old man of sin dies off.  The wilderness wanderings of Israel beautifully picture this.  During our earthly pilgrimage, we go through a growth process wherein the new man grows in faith and obedience and the old man is starved of his desire toward wickedness.  It is a long journey.  At times, it is almost unbearable.  The verse above is a promise given to Israel before and during their wilderness wanderings.  This promise not only covers all the enemies they faced while wandering but extends to their journey into, and throughout, Canaan.  God promised before and during their pilgrimage to fight the battles they would face for them.  God required their participation.  It was not like they could sit back and wait for God to do everything.  They participated in the process.  It was God who would give the victory.

Note here the ‘with’ and ‘for’.  This is a cooperative effort.  Not that God needs our help.  He doesn’t.  He requires our participation.  As much as we would like to lay down our arms and leave it all in the capable hands of our God, that isn’t His desire.  When we stop and think about it, we don’t do for others as we sometimes ask God to do for us.  If there is any effort at all possible, we require it.  It doesn’t matter how much effort.  It could be somewhat impressive, or it could be minimal at best.  But if we help someone, we generally want to see how much they are willing to participate in their own deliverance.  When I pastored in the South, having people who needed help stop by was rather common.  The state welfare system was not the first place those in need would turn to.  It was the churches.  As a rule, the first time someone sought help, we would try to help them with a voucher for food or gas. However, if they repeatedly came, we required they do something for the charity received.  It could have been as simple as coming to services.  Sometimes, albeit rarely, there were those who did things around the church grounds like pick up litter at the roadside or stones and rocks from the lawn.  We were glad to help.  But we were more glad to help if the individual who needed it did their best to meet their own need.

This is a hard thing to hear for some.  We are trained to rely on others, especially agencies or the government as a first resort rather than a last resort.  The verse above is one of great encouragement.  What is the harm in doing all we can and then waiting upon God?  God will not leave us flapping in the wind.  He will not leave the battle totally in our hands.  He will not require of us anything we cannot do without His help.  He will not leave us nor forsake us.  The promise above has an element of challenge, but it is not meant to be the main heart of the verse.  We know that no matter the load we are asked to bear, we can only do so much.  After the limit is met, as the load gets harder and bigger, the LORD is there to keep the load from getting bigger than we can handle.  Yes, we need to see our responsibility in the verse above.  More so, we can take comfort in God’s promise.  He will not leave us alone to be maxed out on our strength.  He will not leave us to handle life on our own.  He is there every time we need Him no matter how much we are overwhelmed by the events of life.  He is there!  Take it by faith!