Category: Devotional

Not a Hoof!

The temptation to compromise can be a strong one. We feel that God has called us to do something and we push toward that goal, ultimately settling for most of it. That’s pretty good, right? Close enough.

Growing up, my mother often said (and I often quote her), “‘Good enough’ never is.”

We see that in the… negotiation between Moses and Pharaoh. Moses wants all everyone to go. Pharaoh says “No.” Moses pushes as the Lord instructs him to and Pharaoh says, “Ok, but just the men”. Moses pushes as the Lord instructs him to and Pharaoh says, “Ok, but no livestock!”. Finally, GOD pushes and Pharaoh (and the Egyptians) say(s), “Go! Oh, and also take our silver and gold!”

The first Passover didn’t involved Moses or Aaron waving their staffs or smacking the water, this one was all God. Moses, empowered and emboldened by the call of God took the ball to the 10 yard line (to use a football analogy), but it was God Himself who carried it in for a touchdown.

We often feel like we need to do it. We can accept that God tells us where He wants us to be, but we need to get there under our own power and strength. And when we feel like it’s on us, that’s when the temptation to compromise seeps in. We got so close, let’s just leave the livestock behind! Take the exit presented to us!

But Moses staunchly refuses. He knows God is going to see this thing through and fulfill His promise 100%. We need to have the same trust. God wouldn’t call you to go 100 miles if He really wanted you to go 93 miles. When you come to the end of yourself, that’s when the power, and strength, and glory of the Lord shines through. That’s when He carries us. So the next time you feel tempted to throw in the towel and settle for less than God has called you into… don’t deprive yourself of the fullness of His blessing, instead resolutely stand up and say, “Not a hoof can be left behind!”

Exodus 10-12 | 35/365

Have It Your Way

Some of us would admit it, others never would, but we all love control. We like to be in charge. We want the final say and for the buck to stop with us. That’s why the Burger King slogan, “Have it your way” was such a fantastic stroke of marketing genius!

And this brings us along to Pharaoh. He has enslaved the Israelites and they are forced into hard labour for the Egyptian government and people. The time is right for God to raise up His chosen leader — Moses — and his brother, Aaron. They go to Pharaoh and famously ask him to “Let my people go!”. Pharoah’s heart is infamously hardened and he refuses, so God sends a series of plagues, judgements on the Egyptian people. Making the water undrinkable, sending various pests, extreme weather, killing livestock, and even afflicting the people with ill health. Some of these signs were mimicked by the Egyptian magicians, but others could not be. In some cases Pharaoh promised to let the Hebrews leave before reneging the moment that the judgement of God was relieved.

Often we cluck our tongues at Pharaoh and wonder why he was such a big stupid idiot, but I think our man is a cautionary tale for *US*. We desire the same control that Pharaoh did, we just don’t have as much power or authority. And when God’s will does not align with our will, the temptation is often to rationalize the incongruence. I literally had a woman tell me once that because God knew she was unhappy in her marriage, He sent her another man!

Lay your plans down and give the Lord final say-so. Once I stopped trying to ‘have it my way’ and waited on the Lord to lead, I felt so much more satisfied and contented in my life and my work. You’ll experience the same thing. Don’t be Pharaoh.

Exodus 8-9 | 034/365

The Lord Your God

Moses and Aaron have been commissioned by God to advocate before Pharaoh for the release of the Israelites. God warns them that Pharaoh’s heart will be hard, but that in time he will not only let the Israelites go, he will force them to leave Egypt.

What will cause this turn of events? The magnanimity of Pharaoh? LOL! The eloquence of Aaron? Not likely. The miraculous signs performed by Moses? Not likely (again). The grassroots groundswell of support by the Israelites against their Egyptian oppressors!? LOL (again)!

The Lord says this as recorded in Exodus 6:6-7 (NLT):

Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgement. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.

Remember the fullness of time from yesterday? Moses was God’s chosen leader because he cared for the people and he was humble, even doubtful he could possibly be a leader. The perfect vessel for God’s glory. And we had to wait for the previous Pharoah to die off so that Moses could return without being executed. Which leads us to this situation where God will free the Israelites in spectacular fashion, in a way that only the Lord can. In this way there can be no doubt who did it.

This is the God we serve. He is powerful over all things and Will only act in the fullness of time. If you feel like you can’t do it, that you are not up to the task… you are in good company. Remember that we can do (that is: persevere, press-on, or endure) all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil 4:13, Conrad’s Amplified Version)

Exodus 4:18-7:13 | 033/365

What Was God Waiting For?

Exodus opens with the Israelites growing into a mighty sub-nation within Egypt. And so the Egyptians seek to subjugate them with slavery. They do so successfully. But God does nothing. Pharaoh orders all the newborn male children drown, and God does nothing.

Eventually one little boy is hidden in the reeds down the river by his mother. Her hopes and motivations are not stated in the text, but by having her daughter — Miriam — keep watch, it’s clear that she hopes someone will come rescue the child and his sister can report back what has happened.

Moses is taken in by the daughter of Pharaoh. He is raised by Egyptian royalty in the lap of luxury while his people are beaten and enslaved. One day Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man and killed him. The next day Moses saw two Hebrews fighting each other and asked why they would be attacking their friend!

Shortly after this, Moses fled for his life after Pharaoh put out a decree to have him killed for the murder of the Egyptian man. While in Exile Moses got married and had a son. All the while the Israelites are still enslaved and God still hasn’t done anything. But now, now God begins to move.

What took God so long? Why didn’t he step in right away? Because He was waiting for Moses. Moses demonstrated a zealous (maybe a little OVERzealous) love for his fellow Israelites. And this was the man God wanted to task with bringing the law to His people. This man would be the one who would FIRST write down the words and instructions and history of God and His people.

We need to remember when things are going sideways that God has a plan, a purpose, and a person in mind to do address what’s happened. We have a hard time seeing beyond where we are at in any particular moment, but while we only see what’s on the road in front of us, God can see every road. And he knows when our course will change even if we can’t see it yet.

We need to trust enough to wait on God. He is coming. When the time is right.

Exodus 1:1-4:17, 1 Chronicles 6:1-3a | 032/365

On Atheists and Foxholes

“Do you know the multiplication tables? Long division?”

“I know of them…”

This hilarious exchange took place on S08E02 of the Simpsons. Barts knowledge OF these mathematical principles is of no use when the time comes to actually employ them. Bart needs direct, useful knowledge of what these methods are, how to make use of them, and when each is required to solve a problem.

It’s not that different with our man, Job. He was a righteous man. He had heard about the Lord of Adam and Noah, and sought to serve Him and live by the words and edicts that had been passed down about Him. But Job did not KNOW God. He says as much in Chapter 42, and verse 5, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” (NLT)

Many years ago I was chatting with an older mentor of mine who grew up behind the Iron Curtain. I had heard terrible stories of life under communism in the USSR and I asked him what it was like. Was it bad? What was the worst thing about it? The best? I must have asked him 5 or 6 questions before I bothered to let him respond. When I finally paused to give him the floor, he shrugged.

“Yeah, communism was bad,” he said casually, as if giving the time. It was clear from his delivery that the next part of the sentence was where the meat of his assessment lie. He continued in his unmistakable Eastern European accent, “but we had God.” He smiled.

…

That’s it?!? I was incredulous and trying (perhaps poorly) to hide it. ‘It was bad, but we had God’?? Everyone has God! What does that even mean?! My disappointment was palpable. I wanted the nitty gritty stories about the horrors behind the Iron Curtain, but this is what I got instead. Some time later I began to understand what he meant by that. Having nothing forced his family to look to and rely on God. There was nothing else. Even as a poor college student my life was so relatively comfortable that I had no need of God. I loved God and wanted to serve Him… but I didn’t NEED Him. The difference is a critical one.

When you come to a place — as Job did — where everything is gone, where this is nowhere to turn and nothing to cling to. Finally, at last, you turn to God. And those among us who have been pushed to the edge by the circumstances of life at the request of the Accuser… we will see God with our own eyes. We will understand Him and what He can do in a way those of us who live in constant comfort never truly can.

This is why they say there are no atheists in foxholes.

Job 40:6-42:17 | 031/365

This Isn’t For You

A phrase oft spoken in my house. My wife and I will be discussing something within ear-shot of our children, and not infrequently one or both of them will ask follow-up questions about the thing they have overheard. “Who did that, Dad?” or “Where did they go, Mom?” And most of the time our reply is the worst thing a kid with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) can hear: “This isn’t for you”.

By this we mean that their overhearing of the conversation isn’t bad, the content won’t hurt them, but I also have no compulsion to go back and explain the full context of something that was never intended for them in the first place.

So it is with God. We can look around and see some of the story (the General Revelation we talked about yesterday), but God had not revealed everything to us this way. God also directly reveals things to us. This is called Special Revelation. The Bible is a prime example of Special Revelation.

Yet even among those who have spent their lives studying the Bible, a great many questions linger about Heaven, Hell, the nature of salvation, the end times, and why Samson is included in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11.

A wise pastor — Steve Anonby — once told me that all the questions we have saved up to ask God will seem childish and stupid once we stand before Him with unveiled faces. God will ask us about those questions we had and we will sheepishly insist that ‘it was nothing!’

God — unlike Job’s friends — never tells Job that he is a filthy dirty sinner who has incurred the wrath of the Almighty. God simply points Job to His creative power, knowledge, and authority. And suddenly Job no longer feels the need to ask those questions. This Special Revelation of God has led Job to be quiet before Him.

God has shared with us the things we need to know. Never stop being curious, keep digging for answers. But don’t think your lack of understanding gives you the right to stand in judgement of God or demand that He satisfactorily answers every question you may have. It could be that this isn’t for you.

Job 38:1-40:5 | 030/365

God, Revealed

He fills His hands with lightning bolts and hurls each at its target.

This is a description Elihu offers of the God of Adam & Noah. At first it seems quaint a funny. It reads more like a Greek mythological description of Zeus than one of the true living God. But the wider context is God’s control. No lightning bolt touches down without God’s knowledge of the event beforehand. No rain, no heat, no snow. All of it points to God’s power and provision. His love.

In this way, we can see God’s grace poured out on us. And through that common grace we can see His love. And through His love we can understand His value to us personally. This is what we call General Revelation. When we can see glimpses of God in his creation. Jesus tells us that if the people don’t praise Him, the very rocks will cry out. I think this is such an example. Creation points us to its creator. We should do the same.

Go point someone to your creator today.

Job 35-37 | 029/365

Light in the Darkness

Once again Job declares his innocence. And rattles off a list of offences for which he feels he cannot be found guilty. Perhaps some of these will convict you, as they have convicted me. While there is one I will bring focus to at the end, pause after each once to let the Spirit speak to you and check your own heart.

Job cites murder, stealing, lust, adultery, deceit, unfairness, physical violence, refusal to help those in need, trusting in money, idol worship, rejoicing in the destruction of one’s enemies, lacking in care for those you have authority over, accepting crooked justice, and concealing sins.

I collect vintage video games. A common issue with some of these older consoles like the NES or Gameboy is that the plastic yellows over time. Something to do with the chemical composition of the plastic. Well, if you want to restore these consoles, this is done by mixing up a gel of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, then — this is key — placing it in the sun. The sunlight is the magic ingredient that allows the others to be effective. The sunlight undoes the corruption of the plastic and restores it to new condition. It is actually kinda remarkable.

In the same way, only exposure to the light can heal the festering wound of sin and begin the process of restoration. This is why concealing sins is in itself a sin. Because the concealment allows it to grow. It gives sin exactly what it needs to flourish. Privacy. Secrecy. Hiddenness. Darkness.

If there is a sin that has been ‘impossible’ to break, coat it with a mixture of God’s Word and prayer EVERY DAY, and then put it in the light! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Job 30-31 | 027/365

The Bravado of Youth

All of Job’s… er… friends… have finished with him and suddenly a new challengers emerges. Elihu — who has apparently been here the whole time — ceases his silence. Frustrated that none of the older men are able to show Job why he is wrong. As a young man I had so many strongly held (though typically poorly informed) opinions and just about any answer you might be seeking. If only people knew they had this fount of knowledge and wisdom standing right in their midst!

Just one small downside. I was kind of an idiot. I had some things right. Some important things. But I had just as many if not more things wrong. And the worst part of it all is the certainty with which I clung to my positions. I lacked at least one virtue: humility.

I think Elihu is in a similar position. He actually has a lot of good things to say and keeps the focus on the Lord and His justice. But He misses some key things… like the fact that God Himself said that Job is the most righteous man alive. He does not have the fullness of knowledge, but acts like he does.

And while this is an easy — and common — trap for the young, we all can find ourselves ensnared in it. Let’s walk humbly. Appealing to the Lord for guidance and clarity. And endeavour to speak the truth with clarity and kindness. Emphasizing grace. Emphasizing love. Emphasizing unity.

It’s as useless to be right the wrong way as is it to just be wrong.

Job 30-31 | 027/365

The Physical and the Metaphysical

In Chapter 28 of his eponymous book, during a lengthy monologue Job expounds on all the incredible works of mankind. In plumbing the depths of the earth mining and exploring. Harvesting every precious metal the earth has to offer. Creating fine delicacies like crystal and glass and jewlery. In searching out the far recesses of the globe; discovering, charting, and conquering everywhere that is ‘hidden in darkness’. In working the land and bringing forward crops of every sort to benefit mankind. It is impressive what we were capable of so relatively early in human history. Remember the events recorded in Job happen some time between the recession of the Noahic Flood and the establishing of the Mosaic Law.

But Job has no idea what is to come! Oh the places we’ll go! We will explore the depths of the oceans, turn rocks and minerals into amazing devices that continue to impress, amaze, and terrify. We will send drones out to the far recesses of the galaxy to take photographs of the outer reaches of the universe. We will send human beings beyond the earth’s atmosphere to explore space first-hand. The way we — as a species — have conquered every facet of the physical world with an insatiable appetite for more and more and more is impressive to say the least. Our curiosity, it seems, cannot be exhausted.

But! As Job says in 28:28 and Solomon echos in Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What is wisdom? Ancients understood wisdom to be a comprehensive understanding of not just the whats, but also the whys and hows. What is this thing? How does it work? Why does it work that way? When we look at a thing we can see instantly that it was designed. Something as simple as a row of stones. That they are ordered neatly in a row would be a sure sign that an intelligence ordered them that way.

So it is with life, the universe, and everything. The ancients correctly understood that if we want to understand what something is, we must know how it functions. A shoe is useless until we understand that it covers our feet. But it seems that our curiosity has succumbed to our desire for self-governance. Because we have answered every why question with ‘it’s just random’ or an indifferent shrug. Why is that? Why don’t we care about ‘why’? Because we KNOW that “why” is a God question. And that is why the beginning of wisdom (understanding) is fear of the Lord.

Job 26-29 | 026/365