Sometimes, I get so caught up in my agenda, I think the Lord exists to serve me.   Lord, will you keep growing the church?  Lord, when will our reimbursement check arrive?  Lord, how long before that person calls me back?  And the list of question is endless – all reflecting my desires.  In the Old Testament, Joshua was caught up in his agenda.  He wanted to conquer the Promised Land.  I’m sure he had a list of questions.   How will we conquer that city?  When do we move forward?  How many soldiers will we lose?   Why are we waiting?  What about that army across the way?  Then Joshua came face to face with the captain of the host of the Lord.  And we find out, in Joshua 5:13-14, he’s not interested in Joshua’s questions.

¹³Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”  ¹⁴He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 

            He doesn’t answer Joshua’s question.  Joshua realizes the error of his ways.   Much more important than any of Joshua’s questions is what the Lord has to say to Him.  I wonder how many times my questions get in the way of what God wants to say to me?   Let’s ask the Lord to quiet our souls, to rest from our questions so that we can hear from him.

Why is following God so hard?   I know God is good, but I take things into my own hands so easily.   I don’t have any solutions for m wandering heart, but I know I have company.  In Joshua 3-4, the Bible tells us that as Joshua led the people into the Promised Land, God parted the Jordan River.  After God’s work, Joshua had the nation build a memorial to recall God’s faithfulness.  Before moving on to take the city of Jericho, Joshua spoke these words to the people in Joshua 4:23-24:

²³“For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;  ²⁴that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

            “So that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”  If anybody should have feared the Lord, it was the generation that entered the Promised Land.  But they didn’t.  The book of Judges tells us how they strayed from the Lord.  If they didn’t follow God after seeing all God’s works, what chance do we have?  We have one chance – Jesus.  Only the power of the Gospel can change our heart so that we submit to God.  I need Jesus as much today as I needed Him thirty one years ago when I first came to faith.  Join me in calling out to Christ to empower us to live in submission to God.

Sometimes, I get impatient with God.  Why doesn’t He work more quickly in my life?  How long will I be dogged by the same issues?  In Acts, Stephen recounts the history of Israel before the Jewish leaders.  In verses 23-29, Stephen focuses on Moses’ rash action of killing an Egyptian who was taking advantage of one of Moses’ Jewish countrymen.  Moses had to learn to control his impulses.  So God took Moses into the wilderness.  But how long would Moses stay in the wilderness?  We find out in Acts 7:30. 

³⁰“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 

Forty Years!   Why forty years?  Because the work of God takes time.  How do you think Moses felt tending sheep for 40 years?   “God’s done with me.  I’ll die in the wilderness.”  But God was just getting started with Moses.  Moses led Israel out of Egypt.  Do you sometimes think God is taking forever with you?   Remember Moses.  God’s not done with you or me.

This morning, I stopped at McDonalds for a “quick” snack.  Only my snack wasn’t so quick.  The guy waiting on me couldn’t get my order into the cash register.  So he called his manager.  But she didn’t have much more success with the register.  At that point my shoulders slumped as if to say, “C’mon people, it can’t be that hard!”   My body language elicited an apology from the manager, “Sorry, sir, we’re just having trouble with our new system.”  Immediately, the Holy Spirit convicted me with something I had read just an hour earlier in Colossians 3:12:

¹²So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 

            Why am I lacking patience?  I forget about God.  I forget that I am chosen and beloved by Him.  I think that my objectives and my schedule are more important than God.    How can I increase my patience?  A set of rules won’t increase my patience over the long haul.  Accountability won’t increase my patience over the long haul.  I need a change of values that puts God and His purposes over my agenda.  Only God’s Spirit can bring about that change in my life.

In Acts 3:1-11, Peter and John heal a man who had been lame from birth.  Naturally, people are astounded by this demonstration of the power of God.   But not the religious leadership, they are alarmed.  They are afraid the Jesus’ movement will get out of hand.  So, in Acts 4, they have the temple guard arrest Peter and John.  Acts 4:16-17 gives us part of the conversation among the Jewish leadership on how to handle the disciples and their message about Christ:

¹⁶“What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷“But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” 

They recognize the miracles but they refuse to believe in Christ.  Instead, they try and figure out a way to stop the message.  Do they really think they can put a stop to the message?  And why would they want to stop a message that is so god and powerful that it brings physical healing?  The Jewish leadership shows us how irrational and foolish we can get when we want to hold on to power.  And, yet, I’m not that different from those Jewish leaders.  I get irrational and foolish as I fight God in trying to maintain control of my life.   I pray that God would grant us all the wisdom to see the folly of fighting God for His rightful control in our lives.

In Deuteronomy 9:4-5, as God prepared His people to enter the Promised Land, He reminded them that they had not earned the right to that land. 

⁴“Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you.  ⁵“It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

            Twice, God reminds His people that their righteousness has nothing to do with them taking the Promised Land.   Too often, I think that I have earned the favor I have in life.  The truth is, however, I haven’t earned anything.  What I have – family, friends, position, wealth, even life — is a gift from God.  At first, that thought wounds my pride.  But upon second thought, not earning my way to God’s favor is a freeing thought.  Instead of trying to reach a standard I can’t attain, I can throw myself on the grace of God.   Instead of being angry about what I don’t have, I can trust God’s goodness to provide me with what I need.   I pray we all grow in our understanding of God’s grace.

This weekend, I had the sad responsibility to go to my parent’s home and join my younger brother in telling our mom that my dad, her husband of 58 years, had died.  A few hours after we gave her the bad news, my mom made this comment:

“Well, Hughie (my dad) met his maker.  I hoped he passed muster.  I hope he was good enough.”

In John 6:28, Jesus was asked about which works would be enough to get a person in to please God.

²⁸Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 

In John 6:29, Jesus answered their question: 

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” 

The work of God?  Believe on the name of Jesus.  That’s a hard message to swallow in our performance oriented culture.  But if we are going to pass muster, these is one way  –

Believe in Christ.

Yesterday, my dad died.  My parents are not Christ followers.  They have no assurance of their salvation.  Their fear of death played out in denial.  The last time I talked with my dad, he told me, “Andrew, this (his precarious health) is just a little problem.  Your mother and I will get through this.”   I didn’t argue with him, but I thought, “No, dad, you won’t pass through this.  Your body is wearing down.”  Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:55 impact a person’s perspective on death. 

⁵⁵“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

            Thankfully Jesus has taken the sting out of death.  Therefore, we don’t have to pretend. We don’t have to deny death.