Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.
There are times when God brings deliverance that doesn't look much like deliverance. When God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He prepared them with gold, silver & clothing - the usual plunder for the victors of war - given to them by the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.) He also dressed them for battle (Exodus 13:18b The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.) So why then with all this favor and preparation did God take them the long way across the desert instead of straight to the Promised Land? God knew the Israelites well. He knew that even though they had experienced miracles in Egypt and seen Him do everything He said He would, they were prone to doubt and whining! "God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." (Ex. 13:17)
Does that mean that the “long way” was the easier way? Somehow, I don’t think so. They were chased by Pharaoh and his army, Ex. 14:10; they didn’t have good drinking water, Ex. 15:23; they didn’t have enough food, Ex. 16:3; they got tired of the new menu, Numbers 11:4 - 6; they begged for water to drink, Ex. 17:3; they were attacked by the enemy, Ex. 17:8. It all seems rather bleak. We can even sympathize a little with them when terrified they yelled at Moses and said, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?” (Ex. 14:11)
Just hours after God had spared them the loss of their firstborn and they had marched out of Egypt “in full view of the Egyptians, who were burying their firstborn” (Numbers 33:3), they had forgotten what God had done. They had forgotten the way God had kept them through the plagues and supplied them with riches and protection for their journey. They spent everyday of the journey wishing they could go back to Egypt. Back to slavery and mistreatment instead of going to the land that God had promised their father Abraham (Genesis 15:18); the land that they had been told about through all the generations since Abraham.
Even so, God provided for them at each complaint.
When they were chased by Pharaoh, God swallowed him, his army and all their weaponry in the Red Sea, Ex. 14:19-28. When they didn’t have good drinking water God provided a piece of wood that sweetened the water, Ex. 15:25. When they didn’t have enough food, God rained down bread from heaven, Ex.16: 4. When they grew tired of the bread from heaven and begged for other kinds of food God sent quail in from the sea, Nu. 11:31. When they begged for water to drink God gave them water from a rock, Ex. 17:5-7. When they were attacked by the enemy God brought great victory in battle, Ex. 17:13. Every time God provided.
Are You taking me the “long way” to the promises You’ve given me, Lord? Am I prone to complaining and whining? Am I forgetful or narrow in my understanding of Your faithfulness? Help me to identify my Egypt and strengthen my resolve to go where You are leading me recognizing that You have equipped me for the journey to my Promised Land!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Cover of Darkness
Remember when being a “Peeping Tom” was considered a deviant type of behavior? A peeping tom usually lurked outside someone’s house and peered in the windows at people. It is defined in the dictionary as “One who derives pleasure, usually sexual, from secretly spying on others.” You could get arrested for this behavior! In fact, in the state of New York the sentence for a peeping tom is six months in jail! Now we turn on our TVs and “peep” through that window - our families sitting right next to us - in the comfort of our own homes - watching “Big Brother” or “The Bachelor”, “The Bachelorette”, “Jon and Kate Plus 8”, and “Survivor” (to name a VERY short list). We call them reality shows.
Recently, I saw a preview for a new reality show called “Dating in the Dark”. The producers of the show put people who have never seen each other in a totally dark room and film what happens using night-vision technology. Once the people have developed a relationship, they reveal them to each other in the light and film their reactions. Apparently, the cover of darkness allows them to “see” each other for who they are and keeps them from making judgments based on physical attributes. It helps to take away their inhibitions and allows them to act on their feelings without having to worry about what the other person is thinking. Of course, the preview made it look like it can get pretty “steamy” between the people. If it didn’t who would want to be the peeping tom on the other side of the screen?
In theory, it all sounds reasonable, I guess, but how do they “forget” the camera and crew are watching them? Does it really work to say, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?” Maybe it does. They seem to have forgotten that they are doing all this in front of “God and everyone” as the saying goes. Nothing is hidden by the darkness because God has night-vision, too!
David wrote in Psalm 139:11 & 12, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you (God); the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” These verses follow David’s acknowledgment in verse 1 “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.” All of Psalm 139 gives testimony to God’s knowledge of who we are and what we do.
Job, the man God called “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8), understood that God sees all and knows all. Job 34:21 & 22 “For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes.”
It puzzles me that anyone would want to be filmed in these situations. I get the allure of winning money but what else does it offer? Is the 15 minutes of fame the draw? And what is it that draws the viewer? Does watching other people fail at relationships or succeed at things we thought impossible encourage us? Do these shows give us permission to behave outside the social niceties of manners and etiquette? It just doesn’t seem worth the risk to me.
The truth is that we are all part of a reality show. Our lives may not include cameramen, directors and make-up people but we do have family and friends watching us every day. Most importantly, God is watching us day and night! That realization alone makes me agree with David in Psalm 139:23 & 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The New Living Translation says “Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
The only “viewer” I want to please is God. If I am living to please Him, all the other “viewers” will fade into the background and the cover of darkness will only be needed for restful sleep!
Recently, I saw a preview for a new reality show called “Dating in the Dark”. The producers of the show put people who have never seen each other in a totally dark room and film what happens using night-vision technology. Once the people have developed a relationship, they reveal them to each other in the light and film their reactions. Apparently, the cover of darkness allows them to “see” each other for who they are and keeps them from making judgments based on physical attributes. It helps to take away their inhibitions and allows them to act on their feelings without having to worry about what the other person is thinking. Of course, the preview made it look like it can get pretty “steamy” between the people. If it didn’t who would want to be the peeping tom on the other side of the screen?
In theory, it all sounds reasonable, I guess, but how do they “forget” the camera and crew are watching them? Does it really work to say, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?” Maybe it does. They seem to have forgotten that they are doing all this in front of “God and everyone” as the saying goes. Nothing is hidden by the darkness because God has night-vision, too!
David wrote in Psalm 139:11 & 12, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you (God); the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” These verses follow David’s acknowledgment in verse 1 “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.” All of Psalm 139 gives testimony to God’s knowledge of who we are and what we do.
Job, the man God called “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8), understood that God sees all and knows all. Job 34:21 & 22 “For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes.”
It puzzles me that anyone would want to be filmed in these situations. I get the allure of winning money but what else does it offer? Is the 15 minutes of fame the draw? And what is it that draws the viewer? Does watching other people fail at relationships or succeed at things we thought impossible encourage us? Do these shows give us permission to behave outside the social niceties of manners and etiquette? It just doesn’t seem worth the risk to me.
The truth is that we are all part of a reality show. Our lives may not include cameramen, directors and make-up people but we do have family and friends watching us every day. Most importantly, God is watching us day and night! That realization alone makes me agree with David in Psalm 139:23 & 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The New Living Translation says “Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
The only “viewer” I want to please is God. If I am living to please Him, all the other “viewers” will fade into the background and the cover of darkness will only be needed for restful sleep!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Versions of Me
It may seem strange (considering my age and all) but I am a big fan of the animated series "Avatar, The Last Airbender". It’s a quirky story about a world where every nation has a specific power or ability to interact with the forces of nature (earth, wind, fire, and water) and command them by "bending" them.
It may also surprise you to know that I'm a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan (director of "Sixth Sense", "Signs", "The Village" and "Lady in the Water" - some of my favs) so you can only imagine how COMPLETELY excited I was to hear that he was doing a movie about the quirky little cartoon!
Unfortunately, I've been told that M. Night's portrayal of the characters is very different from those in the cartoon. The slapstick sidekick of Aang, the avatar, isn't funny or slapstick. His antics in the cartoon were part of why I watched the show. That alone is keeping me out of the theater. Of course M. Night is not the creator of the cartoon characters; he is merely an observer who took his interpretation of the personalities and put them on film. It makes me wonder what Jeremy Zuckerman, composer of the original series, thought of M. Night's characterizations. He must be disappointed that M. Night didn't value his version of the characters enough to maintain their personalities as he had written them.
All this got me to thinking, dangerous - I know! Have I done that to people? Have people done that to me? Have I made snap judgments on who a person is and then represented them to others as MY version? Have I, in all my "brilliance and discernment", created false, disappointing versions of someone only to portray them as such? Did I rewrite who they are? It has been known to happen.
God created the perfect version of us when we were "formed in our mother's womb". Ps 139:13 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Inmost being in Hebrew literally means "kidneys" but is also a Hebrew idiom meaning "the innermost center of emotions and of moral sensitivity", that part of us that makes us who we are.
People will tell you that time, environment, and experience form our personalities and make us who we are but the truth is God made a perfect version of us at our beginning. "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Ps 139:14) Yes, all those influences - time, environment and experience - affect who we are but they did not form who we are. God's version of us, the one "written in His book" before one day of our life even began is the version He designed knowing what every day of our life held. (Ps 139:16)
David, the author of Psalm 139, recognized God's love for him in verses 17 & 18 "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" God's love is the same for us!
Maybe Jeremy Zuckerman is disappointed, too, in M. Night's version of his airbending characters, but it didn't change who they truly are. Jeremy still knows them well and continues to write about them in their original form. God won't let us down, either. His version of us has not changed and He is still watching our story unfold. He loves us and sees us in His version and is NEVER influenced by anyone else’s view of us. We need to look for the "God version" of ourselves and others and remember that we can walk with great confidence knowing God's is the true version of who we are - and the ONLY ONE that really counts!
It may also surprise you to know that I'm a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan (director of "Sixth Sense", "Signs", "The Village" and "Lady in the Water" - some of my favs) so you can only imagine how COMPLETELY excited I was to hear that he was doing a movie about the quirky little cartoon!
Unfortunately, I've been told that M. Night's portrayal of the characters is very different from those in the cartoon. The slapstick sidekick of Aang, the avatar, isn't funny or slapstick. His antics in the cartoon were part of why I watched the show. That alone is keeping me out of the theater. Of course M. Night is not the creator of the cartoon characters; he is merely an observer who took his interpretation of the personalities and put them on film. It makes me wonder what Jeremy Zuckerman, composer of the original series, thought of M. Night's characterizations. He must be disappointed that M. Night didn't value his version of the characters enough to maintain their personalities as he had written them.
All this got me to thinking, dangerous - I know! Have I done that to people? Have people done that to me? Have I made snap judgments on who a person is and then represented them to others as MY version? Have I, in all my "brilliance and discernment", created false, disappointing versions of someone only to portray them as such? Did I rewrite who they are? It has been known to happen.
God created the perfect version of us when we were "formed in our mother's womb". Ps 139:13 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Inmost being in Hebrew literally means "kidneys" but is also a Hebrew idiom meaning "the innermost center of emotions and of moral sensitivity", that part of us that makes us who we are.
People will tell you that time, environment, and experience form our personalities and make us who we are but the truth is God made a perfect version of us at our beginning. "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Ps 139:14) Yes, all those influences - time, environment and experience - affect who we are but they did not form who we are. God's version of us, the one "written in His book" before one day of our life even began is the version He designed knowing what every day of our life held. (Ps 139:16)
David, the author of Psalm 139, recognized God's love for him in verses 17 & 18 "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" God's love is the same for us!
Maybe Jeremy Zuckerman is disappointed, too, in M. Night's version of his airbending characters, but it didn't change who they truly are. Jeremy still knows them well and continues to write about them in their original form. God won't let us down, either. His version of us has not changed and He is still watching our story unfold. He loves us and sees us in His version and is NEVER influenced by anyone else’s view of us. We need to look for the "God version" of ourselves and others and remember that we can walk with great confidence knowing God's is the true version of who we are - and the ONLY ONE that really counts!
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