1 Kings 19-20
The Bible tells us a lot about the nature of God. It also tells us quite a bit about the nature of man. There are a few things in this passage that I see as familiar human behavior. First, there is Elijah, who had just triumphed in a very bold (and very effective!) challenge to 450 false prophets before the people of Israel and their king, Ahab. But now, Jezebel is spewing threats against him, and Elijah is afraid. Afraid? Really?? After what.just.happened?!? But how typical of us, after a grand, mountaintop moment, to sink to the depths. Truth is, all that excitement and adrenaline makes a person tired. And somehow it is so much harder to stand in faith when we are tired. A very good reason to rely on God’s strength always.
We humans also have a tendency to exaggerate our negative circumstances. We just read that Obadiah had saved 100 of the prophets of the LORD. Yet here is Elijah, crying that he is the ONLY one who remains. Yeah, he’s tired.
And then there was Ahab – clearly not a God-fearing man (I think he was a Jezebel fearing man!!). But when a prophet came and told him he would make the first strike and defeat Ben-hadad, Ahab was all about that. Funny how we are so willing and ready to obey when the word is something we want to hear! Even a man like Ahab can be obedient to God when he gets something he wants out of the deal. Human nature.
As a twist on that thought, though, what if what we wanted to hear was any word that came from God? What if we were so enthusiastic about knowing God’s command that it didn’t matter if we liked it or not? What if, like the Psalmist, we could genuinely say, “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (Ps 119:16)? A perspective shift, for sure, but apply it to Psalm 37:4 and see what you get. “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Did you catch the shift? Instead of reading that God will give you whatever you want, you see that God will give your heart the ability to desire the right things. And THAT is the nature of God.
Acts 13:26-52
The love of God brings joy; the jealousy of man brings strife. The Jews were taking in the message brought to them by Paul and Barnabas until their leaders looked around and saw the following the two men were collecting. Instead of receiving their message with gladness, they began to fear for what they held dear – their power and influence over the people. Jealously set in. At that point, Truth no longer mattered to them, and they told the people whatever they needed to in order to contradict the message and revile the messengers. Hmmm….sounds rather familiar. But Paul and Barnabas, and the others with them, knew the Truth so did not let the human-generated strife get to them. They simply took the message of God’s love to the Gentiles, who rejoiced to hear it.
I find it interesting what Paul said as they left the synagogue, “Since you…judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life” (Acts 13:46b). Paul did not say that God judged them unworthy, but that they judged themselves. Interesting indeed. And when the Jews ran God’s messengers out of the entire district, they “shook off the dust from their feet” (Acts 13:50) and moved on. Were they filled with the strife the Jews were trying so diligently to inflict on them? Not so much. Acts 13:52 tells us, “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” May my heart cling to the joy that comes from God and not to the strife brought by man!