Tag Proverbs

Courage to Change: A Quint of Quotes

Todd R 2 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection, on the theme of personal responsibility and development.  Please don’t take the last one literally.

“When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.” – Proverbs 19:3

“People could survive their natural trouble all right if it weren’t for the trouble they make for themselves.” – Ogden Nash

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.” – Common prayer adapted from Reinhold Niebuhr

“Millions of people die every year of something they could cure themselves: lack of wisdom and lack of ability to control their impulses.” -Irving Kahn, investor who died at 109 of natural causes in 2015

“And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.” – Matthew 18:8

We Will Not Live in Tents Forever

Todd R 1 Comment

The apostle Paul was likely one of the finest Old Testament scholars of his day, and sometimes draws on existing imagery to make a point.  One example might be Proverbs 14:11-12, where the second verse is more widely known than the first, but not unrelated:

“The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
            but the tent of the upright will flourish.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
            but its end is the way to death.”

Physically, it seems obvious that a house is far more durable than a tent, but both of these Proverbs tell us not to judge by appearances.  Looks and reputation may suggest otherwise, but it is righteousness that determines eternal destiny, specifically acceptance of Jesus’ righteousness.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-3, Paul gives an example of why we should focus not on what “seems right”, but instead focus on the unseen things that matter for eternity, drawing on the tent image:

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.”

Photo by Hendrik Morkel on Unsplash

Paul, defending his apostleship to the Corinthians amidst his suffering while other false apostles lived in ease, knew that an upright tent was better than a wicked house in God’s eyes, and therefore being less comfortable was entirely worth it, since there was an eternal reward waiting in heaven.

Commenting on 2 Corinthians 5, Warren Wiersbe notes that “Heaven was not simply a destination for Paul: it was a motivation.  Like the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, he looked for the heavenly city and governed his life by eternal values.”[1]

When frustrated by your earthly limitations, or frustrated by discomfort in this world, know that we will not live in these tents forever.  For His faithful, God is preparing an eternal dwelling for us.  While it “seems right to a man” to think a house is better than a tent, every tent and house in this world is temporary.  Hebrews 1:12 says of all creation, the earth and all the heavens, that:

“like a robe you will roll them up,
            like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
            and your years will have no end.”

Do we long for our new, eternal heavenly dwelling?  Does this longing motivate us to live for God?  Let us keep Driving Toward Morning today!

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Encouraged (2 Corinthians) (1994).  P. 69.

Ebenezer in the Wilderness

Todd R 2 Comments

In the ESV Bible, the phrase “but God” appears 43 times, changing the direction of the story.  An Ebenezer is a “stone of help,” or reminder of God’s benefit to His people in the past, providing strength for the present and future.  Ebenezer the squirrel, this blog’s mascot, represents these “but God” memorials the Bible records of God’s intervention in the world and in our lives.  As a squirrel can unexpectedly draw our attention, I write about these moments to draw our attention to God as a reminder that adding God to our circumstances can change everything.  One of these instances comes at a key point in David’s life.

Prior to becoming Israel’s second king, David may have spent a decade in exile, running from Saul, Israel’s first king.  Saul was extremely insecure and jealous of David and sought to kill him for years.  In 1 Samuel 23 there is a story about Keilah, a border town in Judah that was near the Philistine city of Gath.  Bands of Philistines were stealing grain from Keilah and David heard of it.  This small border town may not have interested Saul, but David prayed to God about whether to rescue it.  After getting affirmation from God, David and his men rescued the town.

Saul, with spies everywhere, heard that David was staying in Keilah and planned to besiege the town, probably to starve the people until they gave David up.  In other words, Saul hated David so much and wanted him dead that he would attack a town in his own territory.  Saul was persistent and not interested in seeking (or following) God’s guidance.

David, informed by God that the people of Keilah would give him up to Saul, fled into the wilderness again, then we get to verse 14 of the chapter:

“And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.” (emphasis added)

Saul sought David “every day, but God” was on David’s side, and “did not give him into his hand.”  It wouldn’t matter how hard Saul tried – hunting David while he should have been minding his kingdom – David would not be caught unless God allowed it.

As the story continues, Saul is informed that David is hiding in the wilderness of Maon (verse 25).  Then, “As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.’  So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.” (verses 26b-28)

While the news of this Philistine raid may seem like mere coincidence, I don’t believe it was.  First, the timing worked out just right, as David seemed cornered by Saul and his men.  Second, Saul was not concerned about raids on Keilah – why is he concerned this time?  “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will,” says Proverbs 21:1.  Perhaps this was one of God’s ways to “not give him into his hand.” While Ebenezer means “stone of help,” David found a “Rock of Escape,” and God can be our escape as well.  When we feel threatened by enemies – physical or spiritual – remember that God watches over His people.  Those enemies may seem overwhelming, “but God” will not give us into their hand unless He knows it will benefit us and our faith, for “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  God changes every story for the betterment of His people.

Amen.

Faithful Affliction

Todd R 1 Comment

Sometimes the Bible surprises us by explaining things differently than how our natural instincts would like.  In the case of Psalm 119:75, there are two words that we might not think of together:

“I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous,
            and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”

How often do we associate God’s faithfulness with affliction?  Don’t we usually associate it with our blessings?  Yet there it is: “in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”

Earlier, in verse 71, David wrote:

“It is good for me that I was afflicted,
                        that I might learn your statutes.”

Then he says the benefit he gets from learning this is more than “thousands of gold and silver pieces”. Since we benefit from discipline, would God be unfaithful if He did not discipline us?  Or do we only consider Him faithful when things seem to go well?

“My son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline
            or be weary of his reproof,
for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,
            as a father the son in whom he delights.” – Proverbs 3:11-12

He is faithful, always.  Even in affliction.  Perhaps especially.

The God of Intended Consequences

Todd R 1 Comment

Case studies, detailed write ups of real-life business situations, are a common teaching tool for business students.  From these examples, students are supposed to draw lessons for their own job and for management.  One case study I read covered Nordstrom; a large retailer famous for their strong customer service[1].  At the time studied in the case, Nordstrom had recently hired an up-and-coming manager with a strong track record and trusted him with a lot of power to run the business.  Since the purpose of a retailer is to sell things, management decided to pay every employee in every store more if they sell things.  Seemed to make sense.

However, there’s a thing called the “Law of Unintended Consequences,” or more simply, a lack of foresight.  In the Nordstrom case study, this Law led to disaster.  Employees stopped cleaning the store.  They stopped stocking shelves and organizing displays.  Customers couldn’t find what they wanted, but they were hounded by enthusiastic employees who were eager to sell them something (and get credit for it).  Instead of each employee doing what they specifically needed to do, they all swarmed around annoyed customers.

Photo by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash

Not only did sales go down as a result, but Nordstrom damaged what had been its key strength of customer service.  This happened decades ago, and Nordstrom has recovered, but what an interesting story.  More recently, JC Penney had a similar disaster when they decided to back off their aggressive discounting strategy – the entire reason many people shopped there.  A lack of foresight can lead to disastrous unintended consequences.

Nordstrom’s problem was what economists call a “coordination problem,” where a group of people aren’t properly organized to achieve a goal.  Even if you have a theory that sales are the sole objective, making everyone focus on sales might not be the right way to coordinate.  As Yogi Berra apparently said: “In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.”  Humans don’t usually behave the way theory says they will.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11, titled “The God-Given Task” in my study Bible, says this:

“What gain has the worker from his toil?  I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

The point is the scope of man’s awareness, in his business, or economically.  Man works, and sometimes it looks like pointless toil, and sometimes it is beautiful.  But, as an image-bearer of God, man knows there is more to it – eternity in his heart.  Therefore, we have some sense of a bigger picture, but the whole picture can’t be seen, only bits of it.

God on the other hand sees all, and nothing appears as unpredictable chaos to Him.  His foresight includes all future circumstances, and everything is predictable.  In the movie Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum’s character explains chaos by putting drops of water on the back of someone’s hand and saying there’s no way of knowing which direction the water will flow.  But, when God watches Jurassic Park, he knows exactly which way the water would go.  Every.  Single.  Time.  And not because He’s seen the movie before.  We look at water and see chaos, but God looks at it and says “Peace!  Be still!”

Proverbs 3:19 tells us:

“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
            by understanding He established the heavens;
 by His knowledge the deeps broke open,
            and the clouds drop down the dew.”

Because the world was created with wisdom (and not by accident), gravity does what it’s supposed to do, photosynthesis does what it’s supposed to do, and likewise with many “laws” of science.  God as omnipotent creator orchestrates all those laws of science how He wants, but in terms of people He has the same raw material as the managers of Nordstrom.

However, God doesn’t get blindsided by anything, including but not limited to:
People not doing what they’re told – He can, and does, include this in His plan.
Second- and third-order effects of rules, such as employees not stocking shelves.
Theory that might not apply in practice.

Managers of your company or organization don’t have perfect foresight.  They can’t be certain that their strategy is correct, and they probably don’t know what every employee does on a daily basis, but God is CEO of the entire universe knows all and has a personal relationship with every member of the “company” – and all its competitors.

He has a plan, and while He doesn’t tell us the entire plan, He “has put eternity into man’s heart” that we may learn to trust Him and know that everything will be fixed in the end.  Therefore, dedicate more of your time, treasure, and talent to God and see what happens.  He intends that there will eternally be good consequences, and when He intends something, it happens.  Guaranteed.

Our God is the God of Intended Consequences.

[1] I can’t find the case online or in my files so I’m going from memory here.  Forgive me if I go astray, or if you work at Nordstrom.