In 2010, I wrote a piece about a chalk artist and the impact the drawing and the message had on my life. It was a beautiful, but sad picture of Moses on Mount Pisgah looking out over his beautiful promised land. He was given a chance to see it, but he could not go in. Why? Because he had disobeyed God’s command to speak to a rock rather than strike it. Angry and irritated with the very provoking and demanding group of people he was leading, he once again struck the rock to provide water in the wilderness when God had instructed him to simply speak to it. God in His great mercy, provided water once again to the thirsty group, however ungrateful and complaining they were. But Moses should never have struck the rock this second time.
Moses did not know at the time all that the rock represented. The New Testament explains in I Corinthians 10 that the Rock in the wilderness was Jesus who would be smitten for the sin of the world. And he would be smitten once only. Moses struck the rock twice. He didn’t need to know the details of these future events concerning Christ the Rock in order to obey. Yet in that moment, he allowed his frustration over the people’s ungrateful demands to get the best of him.
For many years I only saw in this situation what seemed to be so unfair. But the anger I experienced early on in my walk with the Lord at the thought of this apparent unfairness has long been replaced with love and trust in a Sovereign God who always acts with our good in mind and for His glory. There was still something about it all I didn’t fully understand, but I had let it go. And until Rog spoke on this very subject Sunday evening, I hadn’t really thought about it again. He presented a different perspective on the whole situation. And for the first time I saw God’s mercy at work in Moses’ life rather than judgment. And what a difference a change in perspective can make.
God had told Moses that because of his disobedience he would not be allowed to enter the land of promise. How terrible it would have been for Moses to remain on this side of Jordan knowing that the people he had led were living on the other side. Instead, God lovingly took him home from this mountaintop. Rather than focusing on what Moses had missed out on, I realized what he was given! He was given a view from the mountaintop, and that view must have been amazing. He caught a glimpse of all that was in store for those that would come after him. He had made a difference, and others were going to be blessed because of him and his willingness to be used of God as their leader.
What a revelation! And how humbling! How easy it is to focus on what I am not getting to do, what I don’t have, what I think I’m missing out on…and miss all that God has for me in the process. No longer do I feel sorry for Moses, or feel he was treated unfairly. I just can’t see any regret or longing on his face when I think of it now; only a deep contented peace and a joyful acceptance of God’s plan for him. He climbed that mountain, took in the view, and went home to be with his God.
And what a view it must have been.
Deuteronomy 32:48-52; 34:1-8
Questions to ask:
Am I making a difference for those that will come behind?
Am I content with all God has done and is doing in my life, or grumbling about what I think it
should or could be?
Is my life about acceptance and joy, or resistance and resignation to what I can’t change?
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Death...it keeps life in perspective.
I’ve been mulling over a Daily Bread devotional that was very thought-provoking. It spoke volumes to me in several ways, and not just because I’m on the other side of 50 rolling downhill, even faster than usual these days it seems (Is it really the first day of 2013?)! The devotional offered a look at death from something other than the doomsday drama that has surrounded much of recent months. After surviving the end of the world a couple of times now due to miscalculations, or something like that, (was it May 21st, or 26th; no, Oct 21st)? Then the end of the world as the Mayan calendar expired (perhaps they planned on continuing at a later time and just never got around to it, who knows?). Not to mention all the talk about ‘wars and rumors of wars’ (which have been from the beginning of time practically) and all the terrible natural disasters and ‘acts of God’ (as they’re called by insurance companies that don’t cover the losses).
Depressed yet? Well, don’t be. The main idea of The Power of Terminal Thinking (David McCasland, ODB 12/31/12) was not to encourage morbid or unhealthy thoughts of dying, but rather to present the idea that a proper understanding of death and its certainty should provide a ‘dynamic approach to living’. It can, and it should.
Still not excited? I must admit I had all but forgotten the initial impact, especially of the Scripture cited with the devotional, until today:
“Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am…Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” Psalm 39:4-5.
Today I talked with my mom on the phone and learned of the death of one that at one time was a close friend of my brother’s. They grew up together and had kept in touch until recent years. This man in his late 40’s went to Florida “on vacation” over Christmas, and jumped out of a thirteen-story hotel window.
That news shook me, as has the news of other tragic deaths, some even closer to home than this one. But this one bothered me in a different, less emotional way. It was just sobering. Maybe because while I was on the phone, the television was blaring about the fiscal cliff we had just apparently gone over. At one time at least, finances and financial status had meant a great deal to this fellow, and my brother too for that matter. I don’t know if that had anything to do with his decision to end his life, especially in this awful way, but I couldn’t help but think as I listened to the news commentator that we may likely hear of much of this during this next year. I remember hearing stories from my grandfather about ‘people jumping out of windows’ after the 1929 Stock Market crash and the days of depression that followed. His thought was that people just lost all hope of ever recovering. My thought? It is perfectly understandable, though terribly regretful, if their only hope of a continued existence was in their financial holdings.
Yes, we are frail and but a vapor, and it does us good to be reminded. But only if it turns our thought to the love of our God that created us and desires to sustain us as we place our trust and hope in Him.
You have taken hold of my right hand.
With Your counsel You will guide me and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my
portion forever.
Psalms 73: 24-26
Thoughts of death and dying are undeniably troubling, and they should be to an appropriate degree. But the right view of death known to the believer is to give us the healthy and abundant perspective of life God wants us to have.
He wants us to truly live.
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Have a Happy 2013 in all the ways that really matter!
For additional insights on this and other subjects, may I suggest you visit the Radio Bible Class web site? It is one of many valuable resources I have enjoyed over the years; www.rbc.org .
Depressed yet? Well, don’t be. The main idea of The Power of Terminal Thinking (David McCasland, ODB 12/31/12) was not to encourage morbid or unhealthy thoughts of dying, but rather to present the idea that a proper understanding of death and its certainty should provide a ‘dynamic approach to living’. It can, and it should.
Still not excited? I must admit I had all but forgotten the initial impact, especially of the Scripture cited with the devotional, until today:
“Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am…Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” Psalm 39:4-5.
Today I talked with my mom on the phone and learned of the death of one that at one time was a close friend of my brother’s. They grew up together and had kept in touch until recent years. This man in his late 40’s went to Florida “on vacation” over Christmas, and jumped out of a thirteen-story hotel window.
That news shook me, as has the news of other tragic deaths, some even closer to home than this one. But this one bothered me in a different, less emotional way. It was just sobering. Maybe because while I was on the phone, the television was blaring about the fiscal cliff we had just apparently gone over. At one time at least, finances and financial status had meant a great deal to this fellow, and my brother too for that matter. I don’t know if that had anything to do with his decision to end his life, especially in this awful way, but I couldn’t help but think as I listened to the news commentator that we may likely hear of much of this during this next year. I remember hearing stories from my grandfather about ‘people jumping out of windows’ after the 1929 Stock Market crash and the days of depression that followed. His thought was that people just lost all hope of ever recovering. My thought? It is perfectly understandable, though terribly regretful, if their only hope of a continued existence was in their financial holdings.
Yes, we are frail and but a vapor, and it does us good to be reminded. But only if it turns our thought to the love of our God that created us and desires to sustain us as we place our trust and hope in Him.
You have taken hold of my right hand.
With Your counsel You will guide me and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my
portion forever.
Psalms 73: 24-26
Thoughts of death and dying are undeniably troubling, and they should be to an appropriate degree. But the right view of death known to the believer is to give us the healthy and abundant perspective of life God wants us to have.
He wants us to truly live.
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Have a Happy 2013 in all the ways that really matter!
For additional insights on this and other subjects, may I suggest you visit the Radio Bible Class web site? It is one of many valuable resources I have enjoyed over the years; www.rbc.org .
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