Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Deuteronomy 1:19-46 records how the people of Israel refused to obey GOD and enter the land that He had provided for them. After a journey through a “great and terrifying wilderness” you would think that the people would have been glad to find a place to rest in a new land, but instead of conquering it as the LORD commanded, the Israelites reacted with fear because those who occupied it were mightier than they. They even decided that the LORD hated them and wanted to destroy them.

GOD had promised these people that He would help them and be with them. He would have delivered the land into their hands if they had obeyed Him. Instead they were forced to wander in the wilderness for forty more years. Later in the book of Joshua, it’s recorded that the children of these disobedient people conquered the land for themselves with the help of the LORD.

When I first read this, these people and their fears seemed so silly. Why couldn’t they have just trusted GOD? He had never failed them before. He had delivered them from the Egyptians. He had led them through the wilderness, providing for all of their needs along the way. He had proved His love and faithfulness to them over and over. Because they chose to disobey GOD, they cheated themselves out of His blessings. The LORD then accomplished His will through the next generation.

Then I realized that I doubt the LORD in the same way. When I see others’ lives going in different directions than mine I question Him. So many people know what they want to do and where the LORD is leading them to go with their lives, and I don’t. I barely even know what I’ll be doing a week from now let alone in ten years. The hardest part about that is that I’m the type of person who plans everything. I have two calendars and three legal pads full of lists and plans for the future. I love knowing what’s ahead. So when people tell me their plans for the future, I start to worry about my own future. I worry that I won’t get a good job when I talk to someone who’s studying to go into business. I worry that I’m not spiritual enough when I talk to someone who wants to be a missionary. I worry because I’m not ready to be in a relationship, let alone married, when I talk to someone who’s engaged. I worry that I’ll regret studying English in college when people ask me what in the world I plan to do with it.

But in light of the Israelites and what the LORD did for them, my worries seem silly and insignificant. Why can’t I just trust GOD? He’s never failed me before. He’s delivered me, led me, and provided for me. He’s proved His love and faithfulness to me over and over. He knew the end of the Israelites’ story and He knows the end of mine. For now the next step for me is this: trust and obey.

Love in Spite of Me

I have skewed view of love. I’ve always known this and I’ve tried to reconcile it several times, but my feeble attempts have always fallen ridiculously short. With Christmas less than a week away, I find myself re-evaluating my perspective on love yet again.

I used to think that love was red roses. I used to think that love was an expensive piece of jewelry, preferably a ring, but anything cut it. I used to think love was acclamation and popularity. I used to think that love was sometimes dishonest because it was more about feeling good than doing good. I used to think that love would come to me eventually if I waited long enough and if I obeyed GOD enough.

This past month, the LORD gave me a new perspective on love. Love is when my mom tells me about someone in need and tears come to her eyes as she expresses her wish to do more than she already has to show them the LORD. Love is a smile of encouragement. Love is a prayer of intercession. Love is unselfish. Love is here and now. Love is a choice.

The ultimate example of love is when GOD, the star-breathing creator of the universe, becomes a child; a humble, poor child. Love is when that child becomes a man who’s given an unfair trial; tortured without the protection of a constitution that prevents cruel and unusual punishment to the point that instead of a man, people see a mass of torn skin and blood who’s then nailed NAILED to a tree, naked for all the world to see and mock. Love is when that same man accomplishes what no one else ever has or will: perfection in EVERYTHING. He never thought an unkind or unmerciful thought. He never told GOD that He was making a mistake. He never dishonored His parents. He never accidently said a bad word when he hit his thumb with a hammer. He was never cynical or negative. He loved others. He served others. When people made fun of Him for being the bastard son of Mary, He accepted the humiliation without retaliation. Even though He was perfect, He was never prideful about it. Even in death, He did not sin. Even when He was cut off from His Father, He remained without sin. The only sin He ever endured was that of the world. It wasn’t His own. He didn’t have to accept the punishment for it. Jesus chose to die for our sin out of love.

Now that I’ve worked myself into a small fit of tears, all I can think about is how I don’t deserve that love. I’ve broken every commandment He ever gave me. I’ve worshipped idols. I’ve stolen things that weren’t mine. I’ve told lies and spoken shameful words. I’ve thought things so awful that I can barely admit them to myself. And yet, somehow in His awesome power, GOD loves me. He daily pours out His grace on me. He has forgiven every evil thing I’ve said or done or thought through what Jesus did on the cross. He made a way for me to be His child by sacrificing His only child. The Autumn Film expresses it best in their song, This is Love, with the words, “This is love, that you still love me in spite of me”. This Christmas, all that I want is a deeper understanding of that love.

Confession: I cling to cacti.

Somehow I got this idea that when someone hurts me, I should chew on what they did to me for a really long time. Then when all the flavor is gone, I put what happened on a shelf and stare at it every night before I go to bed. That way I never forget whatever lesson it is that I think I learned about life from whatever situation I can’t let go of. This is obviously not a good way to live. In fact, it’s kind of a sucky way to live. (And yes I had to add sucky to my dictionary so that spell check wouldn’t alert me that I had a word that wasn’t a real word in this post. And yes it pained me to use slang in a post.)

The funny thing about bitterness is that eventually I get bitter about being bitter. I feel like it’s so and so’s fault that I’m bitter towards them, and I resent them for making me sin. One day the irony of it struck me: the people who hurt me in the past have no clue that I’m still holding it against them. I’m the only person who knows that I can’t let what they did go; I’m the only person I’m hurting. Bitterness is like a cactus. The closer I hold it to me the more it hurts and the harder it is to let go because it’s pinned to me with little needles that are buried in my skin.

The good news is that there is a happy ending to this little tale in sight. GOD’s grace. He’s working on my current bitterness situation, and I know that He will carry me through the future situations that my sin nature will inevitably create. Thank GOD that someday I won’t have to deal with this stuff.