Deut. 17-19
Reading through this section in Deuteronomy, it seems to me that the children of Israel did not do any of the things God told them to do. Even the Godly men, like David – God said the kings should not have many wives. Nor should they return to Egypt to get horses or acquire lots of silver and gold, etc. And it doesn’t seem like they stoned those who worshipped other gods, a command I have some trouble reconciling. I get the idea of purging the evil, but it just doesn’t seem right to me that we should kill those who mess up (we’d all be dead!!).
Ahh – but maybe that’s the point. Maybe God never really intended for them to kill each other left and right. He had to have known that even that would not stop us from sinning and turning away from Him from time to time. Perhaps, then, the whole reason for all of this was precisely because He knew that we wouldn’t – and couldn’t – keep it; to show us that we are all deserving of death under the law of righteousness. And so God’s mercy covers even this.
Luke 5:17-39
The paralytic was brought before Jesus for physical healing, but initially, rather than giving him what he wanted, Jesus gave him what he needed instead. It seems that He did this to make a point to the scribes and Pharisees who were there. I know we, certainly I, sometimes struggle with not receiving what we ask for. And I know that God is good. I also know that Jesus tells us repeatedly that with just a little faith, whatever we ask we shall receive, even to tell a mountain to jump into the sea. And I know that rather than fulfilling Paul’s request to remove the “thorn in his flesh”, God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him. Paul says that God did this so that he would not get conceited, which enabled him to continue to have an effective ministry to others.
I guess the thing I am trying to understand here is that when God does not give us what we ask, it may be that He does that in order to use us for the benefit of others and for His own glory (which is also for the benefit of others). And since we know that God is good, we can know that, even when He ‘uses’ us in this way, He still gives us what we need.