I Thought Better Of It

Psalm 119:47-48(MSG)
I cherish Your commandments--oh, how I love them!  Relishing every fragment of Your counsel. 

It's so true!  This verse, I mean.  I do cherish the Word of God.  His words bring such comfort, clarity, confirmation and strength to any situation we find ourselves in.  The full counsel of God will find you wherever you are and minister sweetly to your soul. 

A great example of the way God uses His word to shape us and grow our confidence in Him happened the day after I wrote the previous post.  (Click here if you would like to read it and didn't get a chance to.)  I was reading along in my yearly Bible when I came to a few chapters in Ezekiel.  (Chapters 18-20).  If you have a few minutes, you should read this incredible prophet's dealings with the Israelites and his obedience to the Lord.  It will leave you refreshed, encouraged, and challenged all at the same time. 

There were several parts that jumped off the page at me, however, the portion that ended up confirming my previous reflections on choosing not to act on our feelings, was repeated by God through the spoken words of the prophet Ezekiel four different times in chapter 20. 

Here is what God said in response to a rebellious people who would not listen to the Lord's instruction about letting go of the vile things they were addicted to.

Ezekiel 20:8-10(MSG) 
I seriously considered inflicting my anger on them in force right there in Egypt.  Then I thought better of it.  I acted out of who I was, not by how I felt.  And I acted in a way that would evoke honor, not blasphemy, from the nations around them. 
(Italics my own.)

I was so encouraged by God's words in this passage.  He goes on to repeat a similar message three more times within this chapter.

Ezekiel 20:14-15(MSG)

Tropical Storm Debby appears angry as she begins to
unleash her fury in the Gulf of Mexico.

I seriously considered unleashing my anger on them right there in the desert.  But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.   (Italics my own.)

Ezekiel 20:21-22 (MSG)
"'But the children also rebelled against me.  They neither followed my statutes nor kept my laws for living upright and well.  And they desecrated my Sabbaths.  I seriously considered dumping my anger on them, right there in the desert.  But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.  (Italics my own.)

Ezekiel 20:44 (MSG)
"'But, dear Israel, you'll also realize that I am God when I respond to you out of who I am, not by what I feel about the evil lives you've lived, the corrupt history you've compiled...".  (Italics my own.)

To read these directions straight from God, gives me courage.  It helps me understand that the emotions I feel are first of all the way I was created.  I have been made in the image of God, so therefore, I too will have intense emotions.  What freedom to know that I am not a slave to those emotions.  I can respond in a manner that is different than how I may feel.  Why?  Because "the nations" are watching.  Who are the "nations"?  My children.  My spouse.  My neighbors.  My friends.  My coworkers.  

When I am feeling mad, I can choose to be calm.  When I am experiencing frustration, I can respond with patience.  When I am afraid, I can speak peace.  When I am saturated with timidity, I can pour out boldness.  When I am overwhelmed with grief, I can allow His comfort to flow out of my heart.  How?  Through Christ who supplies my every need in His strength! 

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)~I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. 

Lord,
Thank You for teaching us to "think better".  Thank You for modeling what it looks like to stop and choose our actions rather than respond to our emotions.  As the verse says tonight, I truly  relish Your counsel.  It is clear and concise and full of the unending love that You have for us! 
In Christ's Name,
Amen

My "Jonah Mood"

Proverbs 5:17 (MSG)
Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.

That word "strangers" has me thinking about the mood I am in today.  I would call it a  "Jonah Mood".  What does that mean?  Well, going forward from Proverbs to the book of Jonah, we find this guy that has received alot of attention on flannel boards in the kids Sunday School departments throughout history.  Usually, the focus gets put on the "big fish" that swallows Jonah alive, where he then lives in the belly of the gargantuan creature for three days and three nights before getting spit out on dry land....unharmed I might add.    Pretty cool story in and of itself, but that misses my "mood" portion.  Let me try to explain.

You see, the way I figure it, when you start at the very beginning of the book, you have a man feeling pretty much the way I'm feeling right now.  He's feeling sorry for himself and doesn't want to do what God, very directly, told him to do. 

Listen to it in Jonah 1:1-4(MSG) "One day long ago, God's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son:  "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh!  Preach to them.  They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer."  But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God.  He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish.  He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish--as far away from God as he could get.

Are you catching his mood?  He doesn't want to do what God has asked him to do.  He really seems to be a little ticked off at God.  We know that he certainly wants to run away from God!!  Why on earth would he want to run away from God?  Weird huh?  Well, Jonah gets thrown into the water by the crew thinking that he has made His God mad and created this storm.  (I figure that Jonah probably did make God a little cranky.)   That's when the whale enters the story.  As Jonah is being tossed over....cue the whale.....he is scooped up and saved by the whale and placed in the beast's belly.   After a very touching prayer in the belly of the fish, Jonah is spit out on dry land. 

That is the part of the story that gets most of the attention.  But, if you keep reading, you find out what this is all about....in my estimation anyway.  It seems that the second directive to Jonah from God is identical to the first~Jonah 3:1-2, but this time the response from Jonah is totally different!  Jonah 3:3~"This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God's orders to the letter."  He told the people that "In forty days Nineveh will be smashed!"

The immediate response of the king of Nineveh was to throw down his royal robes, dress in burlap and sit in the dirt.  He ordered everyone else in his kingdom to due the same, including all herds and flocks.  The king told them to turn from their evil and violent ways, quit eating and drinking (even water), and cry out to God for help.  He proceeded to tell them that if they did this, then just maybe God would let them live.  He must have been a pretty impressive leader, because the people did exactly what they were told to do.  

Pretty cool thing happens next....if I didn't think that talking to God can sometimes alter the course of His plans...I got my proof in this story cuz....guess what?  Yeap...Almighty God decides to let them all live and not smash the city to smithereens.  I know...isn't that the coolest??! 

That's where my friend Jonah's mood comes in.  Listen to it in Jonah 4:1-2(MSG) "Jonah was furious.  He lost his temper.  He yelled at God, 'God!  I knew it--I knew it--when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen!  That's why I ran off to Tarshish!  I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!'" (emphasis mine)  It's like Jonah is irate because God is going to help a bunch of no good strangers that aren't even worthy of His attention.  But check out what God says to him.  God replies to Jonah, "What do you have to be angry about?"  Jonah doesn't answer...he just walks out of the city and sits down.

The story continues outside in the hot sun, where God grows a tree for Jonah to have shade and then sends a worm the next day to eat it.  When that makes Jonah mad, God refers back to the fact that Jonah neither planted nor watered it...had nothing to do with it.  It is the same with the people of Ninevah, God explains, and if God wants to spare it....who is Jonah to get all mad about it!!?

Yeap....I'm definitely in a Jonah Mood.  Mad because I understand God's sheer grace and mercy is extended to each of us with a plan for forgiveness....even the those who hurt us and betray our trust.  The problem with living in this anger is that I hear His gentle voice asking me, just as He did Jonah, "What do you have to be angry about?  Did you create this person?  Were you anywhere around when I designed this life?"  My answer to Him is: nothing, nope, and absolutely not!  Please forgive me Lord! 

So, I can live in my Jonah Mood for awhile, I suppose.  I can curl up in the bottom of the boat and try to go to sleep with the storms of life tossing me to and fro.  Or, I can get up and walk on...living in my convictions....not my emotions?  Huh?  What are my convictions you ask?  Pretty simple.....God is a good God and does all things well.  God is a loving and just God and will care for my needs and the needs of my family.  God sees all of our hurts and cares deeply for us as we weep. 

Praying tonight for God to help me to grow in my convictions and to pull me out of my Jonah Mood!!  Praising Him tonight for giving me His word to freely read and reminding me of stories about plan old people like myself.