Tag Archives: Will

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Proverbs 16

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Footprints of Beach-ChickensWe can make our plans,
      but the LORD determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

I never planned to be a businessman.
I never planned to live in Pella, Iowa.
I never planned to be divorced, nor remarried.
I never planned to build a place on a lake (I dreamed about it, but I never planned on it).
I never planned to write a blog.
I never planned to…
I never planned to…
I never planned to….

Looking back, I can see so many places where my plans for the path my life would take and the actual steps of my path diverged. As I examine the past I can clearly recognize poor choices, sinful acts, wise moves and divine interventions at specific points in time. What becomes impossible for me to clearly differentiate are the consequences of will from God’s eternal purposes for me, for they weave together into one road that has brought me to this place on this day. All I am left with is the determination of what I will do with this day. At this moment, standing at this place on life’s path, whom will I serve and what will my next step be?

God, help me this day make wise choices with my every action I take, with every word that comes out of my mouth, and every meditation of my heart.

I’ll trust you with where that step will lead.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Deuteronomy 30

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"I chose not to choose life: I chose some...

I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. Deuteronomy 30:19 (MSG)

Each day I make a myriad of choices. Most days I don’t think much about it because the day is largely spent in mindless, habitual behaviors. But even the habitual behaviors are a choice. Long ago I chose to do this thing or that and then chose to behave that way each day until I did so without much thought.

We have choices. Some choices breathe life into my day, my week, my marriage, my relationships, my work, and my very being. Other choices suck life out of me, my day, my week, my marriage, my relationships, my work, and my very being.

Each day I am faced with choices that lead to life, and choices that lead to death.

I choose…

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Numbers 32

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estranged
Image by Norma Desmond via Flickr

They continued, “If you think we’ve done a good job so far, give us this country for our inheritance. Don’t make us go across the Jordan.” Numbers 32:5 (MSG)

Land is a funny thing. Along life’s journey I’ve watched families and friends become enemies over land disputes. I’ve watched people fall into deep bitterness, anger, and resentment over arguments about boundary lines and the inheritance of land. I’ve written a lot about how things have changed since the time of Moses, but there are some things that I observe never change.

I knew two upstanding men who, each week at church, claimed a pew on the opposite side of one another in the sanctuary. They’d been feuding over a boundary line between their farms for decades and refused to speak to one another or sit near one another in church. In another case, I watched as parents used land and their children’s inheritance as a tool of manipulation and power which ultimately divided the family. I’ve seen siblings back bite and slander their brothers and sisters throughout their parent’s funeral as they squabble over who is going to get what in the estate. I’ve known people so focused on maximizing and increasing their land wealth that they isolated themselves until their land became a relational island.

Today, I’m reminded that the things of God can’t be bought or sold, nor can they be hoarded, deeded, or put into our last will and testament. Land, like all earthly possessions will end up possessing us if we do not guard our hearts closely.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Numbers 26

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Last Will And Testament
Image by Ken_Mayer via Flickr

God spoke to Moses: “Divide up the inheritance of the land based on population. A larger group gets a larger inheritance; a smaller group gets a smaller inheritance—each gets its inheritance based on the population count. Numbers 26:52-54 (MSG)

Along the journey I have had the experience of walking families through the death of a loved one and the accompanying grief process. Death is a subject most of us try to avoid, and therefore it is a stretch of life’s journey that few individuals – not to mention entire families – are prepared to walk through.

What has been extremely sad for me to witness is the descent into conflict and bitterness that often occurs after the funeral of the deceased loved one. Family members position themselves for shares of the family inheritance. Sometimes the conflict is over large sums of money and land, but it I have often witnessed just as much conflict over small material possessions of little worth.

Looking back, I recognize that the issues and conflicts which arose while dividing the inheritance were the fruit of relational and emotional seeds planted within the family system years, sometimes generations, before the argument took place.

In today’s chapter, God gives Moses instructions for the division of the land in which the people are going to settle. The will is being drawn up. The inheritance is going to be divided among the 12 tribes representing numerous family clans and 600,000 men and their families. If you think there’s conflict in dividing the inheritance among a relatively small nuclear family, imagine the conflict that’s going to occur among the tribes, clans and families of the millions of Israelites.

The largest tribe, according to the census was Judah. This meant that Judah would received the largest amount of land as an inheritance. It’s interesting to note that Judah would eventually secede from the other tribes, establishing its own kingdom and entering into civil war with the other tribes. Were the seeds of that eventual discord planted in this process of dividing the inheritance of the land?

Today, I’m reminded that this world, with all that it possesses, is not my home. I’m reminded that the things of true value cannot be bought, sold, divided, or acquired by legal inheritance. I’m thankful for family and friends who value love more than any material object this world could possibly contain.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Matthew 2

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Star of Bethlehem, Magi - wise men or wise kin...
Image by Wonderlane via Flickr

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.” Matthew 2:1 (MSG)

It’s interesting to read this passage in light of our recent journey through Jeremiah’s story. Five hundred years before the events in today’s chapter, the people of Israel had been taken into exile. Where? To Babylon and Assyria, in the east. Those taken into exile were the best and the brightest of Israel‘s young men who, in some cases, rose to positions of leadership and influence.

Now, hundreds of years later, a celestial phenomena sends these foreign scholars and astronamers searching for its meaning. How did they know this event in the heavens signaled the birth of “the king of the Jews?” Since there is no record of the prophetic sign in the scripture, it’s most likely that a prophetic word was given through one of the Israelites in exile hundreds of years before. Perhaps it was Daniel or one of his friends. We may never know who it was, but we know that these many years later God weaves the tragic events of the exile into the timeless story of Jesus’ birth. The scholars from the east become a beautiful word picture. Among the very first to recognize the messiah and worship him were non-Jewish gentiles. Even at his birth, Jesus was gathering the nations.

Today, I’m encouraged reading the story of the Magi. It’s a great reminder that God is in control. He weaves the threads of past events into our present circumstances to accomplish his purpose. Like the Magi, my journey is simply a thread in a much larger tapestry.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 2 Kings 5

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Charting course. Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, "I thought he'd personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease." 2 Kings 5:11 (MSG)

My wife and I sat in the living room last night talking about the way you picture your life turning out, and the way it actually ends up looking. From the time we're little children we are asked "What are you going to be when you grow up?" Without being aware that we're doing it, we begin to plot, plan and prescribe the path we want our lives to take. Somewhere along the growth curve we become aware of God's presence on the journey. Instead of relinquishing the Google map we printed in on our heart and brain of the path we're taking, we ascribe authorship of the map it to God. We mentally stamp God's approval on it. Sometimes we even get so bold as to proclaim it: "God called me to…," "God wants me to…," "God is leading me to…,"

Like Naaman, we want God to work the way we've imagined and prescribed He will. We want Him to lead us where we want to go. Then we kick and scream at every detour, or like Namaan we simply opt out and head off on our own (then find out He planned for that, too, dangit).

God cannot be confined except within boundary lines that He, Himself, has set. He certainly cannot be confined by an individual human's thoughts and desires. His plans and designs for us are infinitely more intricate and complex than we can possibly fathom. We can chart a course, but we shouldn't be surprised when the journey takes us on a much different path than the one we imagined.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and marchorowitz

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 135

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Blueprint [God] does just as he pleases— however, wherever, whenever. Psalm 135:6 (MSG)

We can do all that we can do. We can have a vision, make plans, and execute them perfectly. Still, in the end, God is going to do as He pleases. His sovereign vision sees further and broader than our eyes could ever reach. His plans take far more into account than our finite minds could ever fathom. The execution of His will stretches into details smaller and more complex than we will ever know.

We can do all that we can do. At some point, we have to step back and acknowledge that the God of the universe will do just as he pleases; and then we trust.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and ryanricketts