Seeing beyond what we can see!

The people of Israel on the way to the promised land was caught literally between the Devil and the deep-sea. When they discovered that they were facing the Red Sea, they were convinced that there is no way beyond the lashing waves—the path ended in the sea. Then when they turned back, the dust being raised by the army of the Pharaoh fast approaching. They were sure that their end has come. So, they complained to Moses, “Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:12, ESV).

We know the rest of the story that they did not perish by the sword of the Pharaoh, neither did they drown in the Read Sea. They made it across, but the army that pursued them perished in the sea. But why did they whine? What frightened them?

What terrified them is certainly what they saw—the army behind, and the sea in front. However, if they were capable of perceiving realities beyond what they could see, they would have dealt with the situation more courageously.

They failed to perceive two realities. The first is that God is with them. That was the immediate reality. The army of the Pharaoh is far behind, though they are fast approaching. The God who has led them out of the land of slavery with ‘a mighty hand and an outstretched arm’ hasn’t abandoned them, he is right with them, beside them. The reality that is far off scared them because they ignore the ‘present-help’ that was nearby.

Overlooking what is close by is very much part of human nature. That is why the airhostess making safety procedures has to remind us that “the nearest exit my be just behind you.” In an emergency we may head for the exit far ahead in the front ignoring the exit which is just one row behind us. We fail to realize that God is close to us in every circumstance than our adversaries are.

They failed in another aspect also. They failed to see that there is a land beyond the formidable watery chaos staring at them. God hasn’t delivered them out of the Egypt to lead them into the sea but to take them to a land that is beyond the sea. He is leading them to a land that God promised repeatedly to their forefathers. The sea just happens to be on the way. The failure to perceive this promise beyond the immediate threat is another reason why they thought that their end has come.

We need to realize that God is with us in all circumstances. We need to assure ourselves as Elisha assured his scared servant that “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Realizing God’s fuller purpose for our life is the sure way of combating fear that cripples us. God’s plan for us doesn’t end with the immediate circumstances that we face at the moment. He will not bring anything to an end unless he fulfill his promises in our life and his plans are completed they way want them to be.

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The Conquering Grace

 

Grace of God is hard to define. When I was making baby steps in Christian faith, mentors told me that ‘grace is unmerited favor.’ I found that helpful. But as I continued to experience God’s grace as I grew, I found that this definition is inadequate to express all that God does in my life. Now, I have come to realize that grace of God is such a thing that eludes any definition. Grace, as I understand now is what God alone and no human can do in our lives.

It comes in various colors, shapes and sizes! John, the gospel writer seems to have understood the multifarious nature of grace that he talks about the ‘fullness of grace’ and ‘grace upon grace’ (John 1:17). Or the New Living Translation puts it: ‘From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.’ These expressions mean that grace is not just one-sided reality but a multi-faceted reality. Its fullness is beyond our comprehension just as God evades our understanding.

One of the rare but important aspect of God’s grace is its power to conquer even those who reject it. I call it the ‘conquering grace.’

The story of Apostle Paul illustrates the point. He experienced the grace of God in such a measure that towards the end of his life he would proclaim that ‘But by the grace of God I am what I am’ (1 Cor 15:10). What he is and what he has achieved is the work of God’s grace in his life.

However, the work of grace in his life marks the beginning of his service to God. That however, was the work of the conquering grace of God. He was a rebel who rejected the grace of God in his life. He was full of hatred for God’s own people. Not only that, but he persecuted them, killed them and was bent on eradicating the whole movement of the disciples of Christ. He was actually persecuting the risen Christ.

But what happened on the Damascus road was an act of the conquering grace. God captivated Saul (who later became Paul) by blinding him with a bright light and speaking to him. As Paul fell off the animal he was riding and turned blind, God conquered him by his grace. He became a disciple, filled with the Holy Spirit and became the most important apostle of all time. Thus, the grace of God conquered the vilest of offenders.

As I think of people, some in my close circles also, I hope in God’s conquering grace. They don’t heed God’s Word, they reject godly counsel, some are a law unto themselves. But I hope and pray for them that one day they will have the Damascus road experience where grace will conquer them. When grace conquered him, Paul changed his address. In most of the letters that he wrote to the churches, he described himself as ‘a slave of Jesus Christ’ because the conquering grace had enslaved him.

Why do giants fall?

 I wrote a blog years ago with a similar title. However, I can't track it down now. It is lost in the Cyberspace.

Now, I write these lines because another giant is fallen and there is a lot of wisdom that can be gathered from that fall. A great apologist is proved guilty of improper sexual behavior with his own employees. Since he is dead and gone no one can verify the truthfulness of the allegations with him. However, an independent agency appointed by his own organization that bears his name to inquire into the matter has confirmed that the allegations are true. The report was released by the organization that he founded and led till his death. 

Though this particular allegation by three women were raised after his recent death and proven a few months later, he was not immune to allegations while alive. There were allegations about false claims he made about his educational qualifications. He stopped using the titles that he did not earn. There was an allegation about his moral misbehavior, but he was able to hush it up. Now, allegations continue to pursue him beyond the grave. That is very alarming.

I was never a fan of him, though he was an orator and has written many books. One or two of those titles are worth reading as well. I didn't care about what he had to say. The reason is simple, most of his talk pointed to him, his greatness and his (false) claims. Once an older friend of mine, who was also editor of a popular Christian magazine, told me: 'If you heard him once, you heard him all!' For my humble analytical mind he said the same thing over and over again but in newer and newer ways, spicing up with his claims of new achievements. For me these were disgusting.

I was mentored by people whom I considered great. However, these are people who never considered that they were great. They were humble, down to earth people. Their greatness, if any, was ascribed but not self-claimed.

These people were shaped by the gospel. These are people who realized that in the Kingdom of God whoever tries to exalt himself/herself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12). Anyone who tries to make himself a household brand will be trampled under the feet and will become the scorn of the world in life and death. The giant who has become the scorn of the world for his own misdeeds proves that, 'God oppose the proud but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6).

So, the lesson is simple, the wisdom of God in this matter is: 'Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you' (1 Pet 5:6).

Do not rejoice that another giant is fallen, but let us take care that we don't fall prey to the same temptation to exalt ourselves; allow God to exalt us, if he pleases, in his own time, in his own way.

Why did Abraham Cut the Wood only after Saddling the Donkey?

Cutting the wood to sacrifice Isaac was the last thing that Abraham did when he set out for Moriah. He had prepared the servants, he had saddled the donkey and then went to cut the firewood! See the sequence of events:

 'So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him' (Gen 22:3, ESV).

He should have cut the wood the previous evening, before going to bed. Preparing the servants, and saddling the donkey could be in the morning. Taking time to cut the wood in the morning would certainly delay the journey.

We can't explain Abraham's peculiar behavior; only some guesses. Maybe he was expecting God to intervene before they set out. Did Abraham think that getting up in the morning, saddling the donkey and getting the servants ready will send enough clues to God that he is willing to obey and expect him to intervene? So, cutting wood will not be needed. Probably, that is what he might have thought.

But for God the commitment he expected from him was more than just cutting the wood, setting out for the journey, even stacking the wood and making Isaac lie on the wood. But the commitment that God expected from Abraham required him more than these gestures to actually swinging the knife at him to slaughter him. That is the level of obedience that God expected from him.

No surprise!

This is what he expected from his son on the cross as well. God sent his son to the earth, made him to have a humble birth in a rather poor family, to hunger and thirst.... God still waited until he was beaten and ridiculed. That was not enough. He allowed him to be crucified and was buried. Then only the obedience was complete. Till, as Paul puts it he 'became obedient till the death on a cross.' 

However, Abraham got his son back; so also Jesus Christ. Isaac was not killed, but the Son of God was martyred to be brought back to life to live for ever. God proved through the life of Isaac and that of his Son Jesus Christ that obedience is always rewarded.

Every test of faith involves obedience. The level of obedience could vary. However, God expects us to go the deeper levels of obedience that he expects from us. However, he is watching. He intervenes on the right time. Just before the knife splits the throat of Isaac and just before the fourth night falls on the cave where his precious son is buried.

Why prayers are not answered?

When things happen not the way we prayed for, it could mean that what we prayed was not in God's will. This is one of the many possibilities. Other possibilities are that we did not have enough faith in God when we prayed. As James says, we should ask in faith with no doubt. He said further that the person who doubts 'is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord' (James 1:7-8, ESV).

Lack of faith, or prayer with doubt that arises out of a double-mind could be one reason why prayers are not answered. However, the possibility remains for prayers in full faith to be unanswered. It could be that what we prayed for is not in the will of God.

I can think of the case of Paul where he says that he prayed three times for the 'thorn in the flesh' to be removed. It could be ailment that he prayed for healing. However, God did not answer his prayer for healing but just assured him of His constant sustaining grace: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness' (2 Cor 12:9, ESV).

What went wrong with Paul's prayers? It seems that he was praying for something that was not in God's will.

So, what should we do when things happen against our expectations even after earnest prayers? We should surrender to his supreme will and move in the direction he shows hoping that God has chosen us the best. Again we exercise our faith in God. The faith that all gifts that God, 'the father of lights' sends are good (James 1:17).

Do good and keep doing it

Doing good could be very tiring in many ways. I know it from my experience.

I have helped people who pretended to be helpless. Moved with compassion, I shared my resources with them. Once I took the money that I kept for my children's school fees and pooled it with donations from other people to get a poor girl college education. She went to college but the first thing she bought was an expensive phone which most of her benefactors could not afford. She had the resources, it seems, for the college fees and also for the phone. We felt cheated.

It had happened to me many times in one form or other. Every time, when I discover that I was cheated, or I realize that my money ended up in something that was not genuine, the will to do another good ebbs away. It requires so much will power and optimism to believe that this time it will be okay.

But patience has its limits. Our moral stamina also reaches its boundaries. That is when Paul's advice to the churches in Galatia comes to strengthen us. Paul said, 'And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up' (Gal 6:9, ESV).

First, we should keep doing good things in spite of frauds. Counterfeits should not make us believe that the genuine doesn't exist. Secondly, there will be some results anyway. Who expects all seeds to germinate and sprout? Will all eggs hatch into chicks? In spite of the potential failures, the peasant still sows and the farmer still hopes eggs to hatch.

Charity should be an untiring effort.

Conquering the Villains of our Love for God

Nowadays, we don't talk about  'conquerors' nor 'conquering'. Those words belong to the by-gone days when military victory was the by-word of human success. Roman military heroes were nominated to the Senate, were promoted or even became emperors on the basis of their conquest of foreign lands. The language has changed with the times. In our days, we talk about achievers, nothing much is left to conquer.

However, the language of conquest still should prevail in some aspects of our life, particularly in the area of our spiritual relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. I prefer the language of 'conquering' over 'achieving' since it has the nuance of defeating something that opposes. However, though achieve also involve some effort from the part of the achiever, there may not be resistance from the other side.

Spiritual relationship with Christ is one of love. He lavished his love upon us on the cross, and we respond to that love. We love because he first loved us.

The response to Christ love is not cheap just as his love towards us was not. There are challenges on the way of that relationship of love. Trials of various sorts are the main hindrances in maintaining that love towards him. Especially when we are put to suffer for the sake of that love. These threats to love come in various forms as our own temptations and opposition from others.

However, the Bible declares that nothing on earth or heaven, present or future should not hinder that love. Rom 8:37-38 is not a prediction but a declaration of a resolve. It should be read, as the author probably intended as, 'death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to (should not) separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

Christian love doesn't happen spontaneously, we need to respond to God's love in Christ Jesus. It is not easy to maintain it as well. We should make constant effort to maintain our love towards him by conquering the forces, desires and powers that tend to separate us from that love. We are not merely achieving it, but we remain in God's love by conquering everything that rise against it. Conquer the villains of our love affair with God.

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