Since 1942, the United States have celebrated a holiday for Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of every November. For Christians the holiday is a time to remember the source of their blessings, regardless of how large or small those blessings seem. In Ecclesiastes 5:18-19, the Preacher recommends celebrating and enjoying our material things, and recognizing God as the Giver of them all, including the work needed to produce and prepare them:
“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.”
However, as the Preacher wrote, even those with good jobs and plentiful possessions may find it difficult to truly enjoy them. It is “good and fitting”, but it is also “the gift of God” to find joy in the now instead of chasing things we don’t already have. It does not come naturally.
For many, time and events make each Thanksgiving different. The company around the table may have changed. The meal may be different. The means of providing the meal may be different. The familiarity of tradition may have been shaken by the pandemic and other circumstances. Much has changed, and much will change.
Therefore, focus on the Giver behind the gifts you have, and seek contentment with thankfulness that He has provided everything you need. For now, and in eternity. You are in good company.
In the previous post in this series on our Master’s voice, I wrote that: “We can’t see the reasons God wants us to trust Him because there is far more at work than we could ever imagine.” Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, but sometimes great illustrations come from strange fictional places, like Jim Carrey movies and Douglas Adams books for example.
In The Restaurant at the End of the Universe,[1] the sequel to the sci-fi comedy classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, author Douglas Adams imagines a technology that harnesses full awareness of the universe as a profoundly cruel torture device. When Trin Tragula invented the “Total Perspective Vortex” to annoy his wife who kept accusing him of blowing things out of proportion, he found that when he tested it on her, “the shock completely annihilated her brain.” A victim is placed in the TPV and presented with a realistic model of the entire universe, with a tiny dot on top of a tiny dot that says, “you are here.” He concluded that “a sense of proportion” in such a massive universe would only make someone feel completely insignificant, hopeless, and insane beyond all hope of recovery. It’s a sci-fi comedy, but still, be careful what you wish for.
Another example from a different angle is the Jim Carrey movie, Bruce Almighty. This hilarious (but irreverent) comedy is based on Carrey’s character Bruce Nolan raging against God about his frustrating life. God, played by Morgan Freeman, appears and challenges Bruce to do any better, giving him “the job” for a temporary period to teach him a lesson. The 3-ish-minute video embedded here is my favorite part of the movie, where Bruce tries to figure out how to deal with his new awareness of all the prayers of the world.
If God thought it was possible, or a good idea, for us to know it all, we would. After all, even Nipper the dog from the “His Master’s Voice” painting would be distracted and unable to get anything done if he saw this picture, even though it contains only good news:
Our Master speaks to us as our creator, knowing both our limitations, but also what we are capable of as His marvelous creatures if we trust Him!
This post is fourth in a series that started with this post on His Master’s Voice. More to come…
[1] Adams, Douglas. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. (1980). P. 79
Today we come back to the topic of our Master’s voice, which began with the painting “His Master’s Voice” and continues through the story of Gideon in the book of Judges, chapters 6 and 7. So far, Gideon has done his best to discern whether God was really talking to him, then set out with an army of 22,000 soldiers, which Gideon faithfully whittled down to only 300, at God’s instruction. Against an army “like locusts in abundance,” Gideon might have needed a little reassurance, because outside of a miracle[1] his army was going to fail miserably.
That very night, God spoke to Gideon, saying: “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.”[2] We know Gideon was still afraid because he took Purah and went down into the camp. We also know that God made provision for Gideon’s fear, instead of counting on Gideon to have perfect faith. Should Gideon have needed extra reassurance? No, but God provided what was needed to overcome Gideon’s fear, which was a bit more insight into God’s plan. Victory in battle is never a matter of how many soldiers are on God’s side, as if spiritual warfare was determined by democracy, but by whose side God is on.
When Gideon snuck into the camp: “behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, ‘Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.’ And his comrade answered, ‘This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.’”[3]
Victory in battle is never
a matter of how many
soldiers are on God’s side
Some commentators suggest that the “barley” reference means that an inferior army would win, since barley was considered inferior to wheat and other grains, but what we know is that this dream put fear into the Midianite camp and emboldened Gideon to trust God, even though he didn’t understand Him. Overhearing these words in the camp let Gideon know that that God was at work in far more ways than he could imagine, that victory belongs to the LORD, and that he can trust that God has the knowledge he lacked. God is trustworthy, even if we don’t fully understand Him.
We only know part of our part in God’s plan. He knows all of our part, and also all of everyone else’s part. Each of us are but one of millions of Christians trying to figure out our relationship with God, and we have no idea what those other millions are up to. But God does, and if we insist God tells us everything before we act, we not only disobey God, but lose out on the opportunity to impact those other lives and see how awesome God’s plan really is!
Our ability to hear and obey our Master’s voice is not a question of complete knowledge, but of wisdom. Proverbs 17:24 says, “The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” Since “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight,”[4] from the story of Gideon, we learn that God was teaching Gideon to revere Him above any desire to see the “ends of the earth.” Wisdom keeps us on the path of life but doesn’t always mark it out for us far into the future. We can’t see the reasons God wants us to trust Him because there is far more at work than we could ever imagine.
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” – Deuteronomy 29:29
This post is third in a series that started with this post on His Master’s Voice. More to come…
[1] Or a certain action film directed by Zack Snyder… [2] Judges 7:9b-11a [3] Judges 7:13-14 [4] Proverbs 9:10
When we want to hear our Master’s voice, we all have to overcome competing influences, like the lyrics of “Breathing” by Lifehouse say, “I’m trying to identify the voices in my head; God, which one’s you?” We all need a filter to pick the right voices, or influences, that we base our lives on, and filter out anything that competes for our Master’s attention. The Bible recommends it, as 1 John 4:1 says “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Proverbs tells us to make our ear attentive toward wisdom and to incline our heart to understanding, and to treat wisdom and understanding as more valuable than silver and treasures.[1] But how do we do it?
Gideon from the book of Judges might also have related to Lifehouse’s lyrics. Gideon needed to filter out the voices, and probably the best-known part of his story is his use of a fleece to do that. During Gideon’s life, as recorded in the book of Judges, Israel was being oppressed by the Midianites, Amalekites, and others, who would wait until harvest then rob all the produce and livestock. The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, saying he would use Gideon to “save Israel from the hand of Midian”[2], but Gideon doubted that it was God speaking, and said “show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.”[3] Gideon may or may not have doubted that God was able to save Israel, but he certainly doubted whether this was really God talking. Therefore, Gideon needed to “test the spirits,” but how?
Gideon asked God for a sign, which God provided, giving Gideon confidence to break down an altar to Baal and destroy an Asherah.[4] But Gideon asked God for more proof that it was truly Him speaking, and that He was calling Gideon to save Israel. This extra step was the sign of the fleece, which is worth quoting in full, from Judges 6:36-40.
“Then Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.’ And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, ‘Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.’ And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.”
A quick survey of study Bibles on this passage brings these comments on Gideon’s “test” of God:
“Even though the Spirit has come upon him, Gideon still struggles to trust the Lord.”
“The gathering of the tribes should have been sufficient evidence of God’s presence with Gideon, but he wanted a sign that God would do what He had promised.”
“Gideon’s desire for a second fleece sign evidenced his less than complete trust in God…He wanted to make certain that the first fleece sign was not merely a coincidence or the result of the natural absorption properties of a fleece.”
“Unlike Gideon, we have God’s complete, revealed Word. If you want to have more of God’s guidance, don’t ask for signs; study the Bible”
It’s easy, even encouraged, to criticize Gideon for testing God but if we put ourselves in his place can we do any better, even with the whole Bible? Sometimes the Bible is clear, as in “you shall not murder,” but what about questions like, “what should I write next?” Or “how can I encourage a friend?”
Consider that if Gideon had not put out the fleece maybe his story would’ve stopped right there, with him wallowing in doubt. After all, Israel was being persecuted by a powerful enemy – why take any risks? However, not knowing with 100% certainty what God’s will is does not mean that doing nothing is the right answer. If we have a decision to make where the Bible doesn’t seem to provide explicit direction, do we just follow Yogi Berra’s sarcastic advice: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”?
I can relate to Gideon because I needed a filter, a reason to take the time to “test the spirits,” because I rarely know for sure what God wants. Much of the time, I “go with the flow,” and think if I avoid the wrong “flow” I’ll be ok. I write often not because I’m disciplined, but because I’m not. Writing is a tangible way to build the spirit-testing filter into my routine, even if it sometimes looks no wiser than Gideon’s fleece. So, why publish publicly to anyone with an internet browser? Because I take it more seriously, working on filtering out voices that aren’t useful to me, and wouldn’t be useful to anyone else. A published blog takes more effort than not writing at all, which is the point, and it helps me move forward.
The Benefit of the Doubt As I’ve written about Jeremiah and others, the Bible records openly the doubts of God’s people, because we all have a lot in common. Finding and trusting God’s voice is hard. If we criticize Gideon for demanding tests from God, are we really just criticizing ourselves and making it even harder? Our filters are also imperfect – does that mean we do nothing and get nowhere? Do we give up the call to “test the spirits,” leaving ourselves to “go with the flow” until we find a perfect method? Like Gideon, we are also prone to take the safe route, when offered what looks like a riskier alternative. To do something involves risk of not only doing the wrong thing, but also of being criticized for our methods. Doing nothing is sometimes the right answer, but it is also a choice, and we can’t always be clear why we choose it.
David sometimes encourages us to “wait for the Lord,” and he also wrote “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!”[5] when he was feigning madness before Abimelech, a questionable decision. We learn about God by experiencing Him, by taking action or by waiting, taking a chance either way, but over time learning that obedience is always the best decision, and also that He catches us when we fall. We can’t be perfect in this world, but He wants us to try and He will help us grow.
Centuries ago, Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 11:4: “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” He may well have written to me: “He who observes the trolls will not blog, and he who fears the comment section will not write.” Or to Gideon: “He who observes the Midianites will not save Israel.” We all begin our trip to eternity wherever God finds us, where we are not only sinners, but also have a lot to learn about focusing on God’s voice. What might we all be observing that’s keeping us from sowing the seed of the gospel God has given us? Sometimes it’s doubt in our filters, in our ability to know for sure.
When we’re afraid of being compared to Gideon and his fleece, know that he is listed in Hebrews 11:32 as a faithful hero, and was received in heaven as a good and faithful servant by the grace earned on the cross by Jesus. So, let’s take it easier on Gideon and give him the benefit of the doubt. We are all in this together, including the heroes of the Bible. It’s God’s faithfulness that matters and He will overcome all of our doubts.
In the meantime, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13a
This post is second in a series that started with this post on His Master’s Voice, and continues here.
The last post focused on Jesus’ withering of a fig tree on His way into Jerusalem and how it was a sign of the eventual withering of those who reject God’s authority by not bearing fruit where fruit was needed. Today we return to Jesus’ explanation of how the tree withered so fast: “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:21-22)
Jesus does not say “any mountain,” but “this mountain.” Which mountain? Since they were returning to Jerusalem, a city built on a hill, it is likely that He is talking about His purpose in going there. He was about to overthrow the authorities of the world on the cross, including that of the Jewish rulers, but also the Roman Empire. As I wrote in an earlier post: “Only in hindsight do we know what Jesus already knew at the time: in AD 66, Rome would invade and level the city of Jerusalem, including desecrating the temple. In 410 AD, Germanic tribes would sack the city of Rome and eventually overthrow the empire of Pax Romana.”
By causing the fig tree to wither quickly, Jesus showed His disciples that anyone who rejects His authority will inevitably wither. What He demonstrates in a limited way instantaneously, He will fulfill completely eventually, but certainly. Through our faith we bear our own cross rather than blindly following the authorities of the world. If we act in faith, our actions outlast every authority of this world. Thus, our faith moves mountains!
Being “on the right side of history” means doing the right thing in light of eternity, not doing what is popular in the fleeting, present moment or imagining some future opinion poll’s judgement on the present day. The popular view may often seem like the easy way, but the authority of God, which tells us to love Him and love our neighbor in every circumstance, is the only way to bear fruit that lasts. Following God may make us popular, or it may not, but seeking popularity should not be a reason for doing things. Popularity is ok as an outcome, but not as an objective. For the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, seeking popularity initially made them unable to commit to anything, but eventually led them to crucify God Himself.
In my case as a blogger and in many areas of anyone’s life, there are constant temptations to do what is popular. Many of the “followers” of this blog are other blogs asking me to pay for advice about how to get more attention; to improve my “metrics.” Other forms of social media want us to focus on “likes” and other verifications of our popularity. However, only a life lived knowing that God, our Maker and King, knows what is most beneficial for us and fruitful for His people provides the wisdom we need to find true fulfillment. The lesson of the fig tree reminds everyone that a quest for popularity might only lead to a withering of their ability to bear real fruit for eternity.
We close with these two verses: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” – Isaiah 40:8 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” – Mark 8:35
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 