The Temptation of "What's Best for Me Right Now"

I know I guilty of making rash decisions. There are times when I have deliberated all of a couple of minutes before making huge decisions. And they have not always turned out to be the best ones! Yet I have to admit, I'm not the only one. In fact we live in a society that pushes and depends on us making quick decisions. The "Limited Time Offer" sales, "Tax Time", Inventory reductions, Only a few days left, even the phone calls and emails that say you have to act right now or the opportunity will be gone.

Why is it that we are pushed to make such quick decisions? Because to think about them, to rationalize them, to look carefully at the benefit versus the cost most of the time we would pass. But it's not the fault of the advertisers. Instead they are just capitalizing on our human condition. They know our decision making process better than we do. They know that our "want" is stronger than our "need" most of the time. So, we make many decisions based upon what's best for me right now (in the confusion of wants/needs).

You are probably asking why I mention this today. IN Isaiah 36, Rabshekah, the General of Assyria's army is standing outside the wall of Jerusalem speaking to the leaders and to the people listening in. He makes an offer that sounds pretty good, a new life, if they will only join in a peace agreement with Assyria. Not a bad plan, until he continued, "Name one god that has ever saved its countries from me. So what makes you think that God could save Jerusalem from me?"

We are bombarded with options in this life, with immediate results and satisfaction. If the people of Judah in Jerusalem had taken this offer what would it mean? A peaceful end to a volatile situation? Probably, but to what end? We have leaders in our nation who want to end our engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan immediately and many people agree that this is the best option. It seems what's best for right now, but what about the future? I'm not saying I know the answer because I don't. I too want the conflict to end, but not to sacrifice the future.

Decision making is much more comlex. And as people of God we are better served to weigh our options: the ones that benefit us now against the ones that will benefit us far into the future. The people of Judah made the right decision (with King Hezekiah's wisdom and faith and Isaiah's counsel). I'll let you finish the story in today's reading, how King Hezekiah and Isaiah trusted in God and an amazing event took place. They saw that "what seemed best for them right now" was really a temptation to steer them away from what was best for them in the long run...


...to trust in God!

Let's not make the same mistakes anymore. Instead let's place our decision making in the hands of God who knows whats best for our future!

Peace ><>
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Favorite Things

I was asked the other day about some of my favorite things and I didn't have an answer for any of them. I realized that I don't have a favorite drink, or dessert, or food, or movie. I have many favorite things, places, experiences and I'm sure you do to.

When I was a kid it wasn't unusual for my parents to ask me to sing something or to show a new step I'd learned in dance class. It was one of their favorite things, even though I rarely complied. Instead I would usually sheepishly say, "No thank you!" Today I wish I had sang and danced more for them when they asked.

As you probably know already I love to travel and my favorite destination is the Holy Land for obvious reasons. I've shared many stories and places and pictures of the things that touch my heart. One of them is Qumran, the Jewish monastic community (Essenes) who created what we call the Dead Sea Scrolls.
This is Dave Ritchie and me after leaving our group and climbing into the mountains. Behind us is the Dead Sea, the cave where the first scroll was discovered and if you look carefully, our group (that look like tiny ants along the ridge). It's hard to tell why this is one of my favorite places, maybe because I've had some opportunity to explore it and it beckons me back to it. I want to scale the cliffs, go into it's caves, see what I might be able to discover.

Favorite things, places, people, beckon us because to experience them is to affect us somehow. They touch our heart in a way that may be indescribable, but it feels good so it becomes a favorite. You know what it's like to see your favorite team play their sport, to visit with your favorite person, to taste your favorite ice cream, to watch your favorite show. You can almost not even think about them without a smile. Just thinking about it affects us.

God's the same way.

God has favorites just like we do, even favorite people throughout the biblical story. (It may not seem fair, but it's true. There are some who just simply get God's attention for their life, their faith, their humility, their devotion, like David, Job, Moses, etc.) The scripture even reveals some of God's favorites. (...as well as the things God hates!) But one of God's favorites might surprise you.

You'd think that a fully devoted life would please God the most and while I agree that's God's goal for all of us, it's rare to find that. Rather one of God's favorite things is actually very simple...

...it's when someone calls out for help. That's right, God loves it when we find ourselves dependent, in need, even desperate. It's where God wants us to be, how God wants to relate to us. It's God's nature to be merciful, generous, gracious, so it makes perfect sense that when we are dependent on God, God gets to act in His favorite ways.

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
in complete dependence on me—
The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do. (Isaiah 30:15, Msg)

Want to please God? A song and a dance might make Him smile, but to really please Him act today in a way that is one of God's favorites...

...cry out for help!

Peace ><>
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The Galilee Promise

I've had the privilege of spending a significant amount of time in the Galilee. Of all the places in the Holy Land, I love this area the most, probably because of the time Jesus spent here, ministered here, but also because of it's significance to the whole biblical story. It's the land of Naphtali and Zebulun and it's mentioned as the place were the people who walked in darkness would see a great light!

In other words, it is where the Messiah would come from.

There are significant reasons why God planned it this way, first of all, because this land in the First Century wasn't filled with Jews, but was a mix of Jews, Samaritans, and other Gentiles from around the area and world. Tiberius, a large city built during this time in honor of the Caesar (whose name was Tiberius) was considered a pagan city and was avoided by the Jews(and by Jesus). It was here in this international area that God planned to reveal himself to the world, in the flesh.

So for me, the picture above is like home. It represents you and me, the land of Gentiles, full of the darkness of ignorance (or naivete) of God that will be flooded with the light of God, an understanding of Christ!

I always thought that in order to find we have to seek and in order to understand we have to study/read. And while it holds true, it is not exclusive. What I mean is that the people of the Galilee (at least the Gentiles) weren't seeking a Messiah. They weren't studying the Hebrew scriptures (and while the Jews here were doing both, there wasn't a great fervor until after John the Baptist). So when Jesus arrives they found something they weren't looking for. In other words, Jesus comes to meet us where we are instead of us always going to where he is.

That's a great deal of the Good News of God. He has arrived not at the Temple, where he is expected, but at home, where we live, where we work, where we play, where we hurt. The Galilee is the symbol of God's promise, I will be wherever you are.

And it still holds true. Jesus is where we are. He's Emmanuel, which means God with us. We don't have to run after God. Instead we simply have to turn toward Him and He's there. Run away from God and look over your shoulder...He's there.

Isaiah said, "He's coming."

Jesus says, "I AM here!"

In His Grip ><>
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