Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.” [Psalm 55:5-8 (ESV)]
Wearing a stuffed backpack and carrying his Teddy bear, little Tommy walked past his neighbor’s house. A short while later, he walked by her house in the same direction. He disappeared around the corner only to reappear several minutes later. As he was passing her house for the fourth time, the neighbor asked him what he was doing. When Tommy explained he was running away, she asked why he was only circling the block. “Because I’m not allowed to cross the street!”
Have you ever wanted to run away from your problems? I certainly have and so did David. Desperate, he wanted to escape his situation and yearned to be a dove that could just fly away to a far away place. Neither David nor I were any more successful at fleeing our troubles than little Tommy!
The difficulty with running away is that our problems usually come along with us while new ones loom right around the corner. When Hagar ran away from Sarah’s cruelty and Abraham’s disregard, the lone pregnant woman simply exchanged one set of problems for an even greater one—that of survival in the wilderness—and God sent her back. Hagar, of course, wasn’t the only one who chose to run rather than face her problem head-on. Adam and Eve were the first. After tasting the forbidden fruit, they foolishly thought they could escape facing God by covering themselves with leaves and hiding in the trees. They could run, but they couldn’t hide!
When famine struck and Abraham ran away to Egypt, he simply traded one problem for another when he lied about his marriage and allowed Sarah to be taken as one of Pharaoh’s wives. Naomi and Boaz jumped out the frying pan right into the fire when they escaped from famine in Judah by going to the hostile pagan nation of Moab. Boaz died there as did both of their sons and Naomi was left a penniless widow in a foreign land. Jonah, of course, is the poster boy of runaways. Unwilling to obey God and pronounce judgment on Nineveh, the prophet immediately went in the opposite direction and ended up in the belly of sea creature. If we’re running from God, we’re going in the wrong direction; Satan, however, is more than happy to provide us with transportation!
Refusing to face our problems is just another way of running from them. When Saul and his army refused to face Goliath, the giant didn’t go away; he returned every morning to taunt them and their God! Displeased by Jeremiah’s words, King Jehoiakim of Judah burned the prophet’s scroll and King Zedekiah imprisoned him. Nevertheless, ignoring Jeremiah’s prophecies of disaster didn’t keep it from happening!
Running from the truth doesn’t make it less true and running from a problem doesn’t make it disappear! Trials are inescapable in this fallen world and dealing with them is a necessary part of being a believer. Our challenges shape us into the people God wants us to be. Whether it’s financial difficulties, a troubled marriage, a difficult boss, a rebellious child, a medical issue, a loved one’s mental illness, or our own addiction, problems must be faced.
Our loving God is sovereign over our lives. Rather than run from the troubles He’s allowed to be placed in our lives, He expects us to trust Him enough to stand firm and boldly confront them while wearing the armor of God. Although we have a belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword, something is missing; there is no back plate to the breastplate of righteousness. I suspect that’s because we can’t win the Kingdom if we’re fleeing from the enemy!
I still go online to read the newspaper from what was our hometown for over fifty years. Last week, it was filled with news about the events of Fiesta Days. With its Car Show, Big Wheel Race, Duck Derby, Beach Bash, Street Fair, Music Fest, Art Show, Parade, Fireworks, and Carnival (complete with rides and funnel cakes), the festival is one of summer’s highlights.
If there were a litmus test for Christians, it would not be pious words, powerful preaching, grandiose gestures, or even extraordinary feats; it would be the presence of the Fruit of the Spirit. If love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control aren’t evident in our lives, we may be talking the talk but we’re clearly not walking the walk. Jesus recognizes us by our fruit and, if we’re bearing the Fruit of the Spirit, people will see some of Christ in us.
Although the common position for prayer was standing, Jesus fell to His knees that night in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke describes Him as praying so intensely that His sweat dropped like blood. Having used the word hósei, meaning “as if it were, like, as, as though, or much like,” Luke may have meant Jesus sweat so profusely that it dripped from Him like blood. Nevertheless, Luke was a doctor who paid great attention to detail; he may have described hematidrosis, a rare medical condition in which the capillaries rupture causing blood to seep into the sweat glands and then out onto the skin. It’s caused by high blood pressure, a bleeding disorder, or extreme distress or fear, such as facing abuse, torture or death on the cross! Whether Jesus’ sweat poured off his body as if it were blood or He literally sweat blood, the Lord’s prayer was so intense that an angel came and strengthened Him.
Fowlers are professional bird catchers. In ancient Israel, they supplied the market with wild pigeons and doves destined for sacrifice, small birds (like quail) for food, and doves and other birds for caged pets. Since most of us get our poultry at the grocery, we’re probably unfamiliar with the fowler and his methods. To capture birds, fowlers spread nets or set traps and snares on the ground, camouflage them with natural materials, and cover them with grain. Tempted by the food, the birds leave the safety of the sky and come down to the ground where they are caught.
Over a period of 3,000 years, ancient Egypt’s pantheon of gods numbered between 1,400 and 2,000. During that time, some faded in prominence and new gods appeared. Often depicted as part human and part animal, Egypt’s gods had names, unique back-stories, and their own domain and expertise. Each god/goddess was responsible for a certain part of daily life, from motherhood to music, record keeping to funerals, and cosmic order to hunting. While the ten plagues God sent Egypt through Moses and Aaron may seem somewhat arbitrary to us in the 21st century, every one of them was a direct attack on one or more Egyptian god. They were the ultimate “smack-down” between God Almighty and Egypt’s deities.
Devotions of the Heart 