Stickers, Thorns and other Blessings

I’m not sure what you call them in your neck of the woods, but where I grew up they were called sticker burs – little globes of pricklies that can cause large amounts of pain to the barefooted and the four footed. I’ve heard them called sand burs. They’re not like the polite but troublesome burs that are like Velcro, sticker burs are just mean.

I’m a barefoot person. My shoes come off at the earliest possible second after I’ve walked through the door and don’t go back on again until the last moment before I leave the house – summer or whatever passes for winter in Texas. I learned painfully that venturing outside without shoes is not a pleasant experience because of sticker burs. What I never expected was to have to learn that same lesson inside of my house. This year, however, I have found walking through my house almost as painful as walking in my yard. Why? Well, apparently sticker burs attach themselves in the fur of long haired dogs until they walk onto carpet and then somehow the stickers come out of the dogs’ hair and stick in the carpet. That is, until my foot finds one and then it sticks in me. I know, if I were wearing shoes, I wouldn’t have a problem … I've been ignoring that advice for fifty-some years.

Anyway, this problem led me to ask the question, “Why do we have sticker burs … or thorns, … or mosquitos, … or any other inconvenient, painful or bothersome thing you can think of?

The answer that all Christians know is, “Because Adam and Eve sinned.” OK, but why does their sin mean that I have to step on sticker burs stuck in my carpet? For a long time my answer would have been that at the moment that Adam and Eve sinned, entropy and genetic anomalies entered all life forms. I still believe that, but that doesn’t answer the why part of the question. “Why?”

But then, I noticed something I had never noticed before.

"To the woman He said: 'I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;  In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.’ Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it”: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.'" Genesis 3:16-19

Did you catch it? “Cursed is the ground for your sake; …” Think for a minute. What are do you usually mean when you make a statement that includes the words “for your sake?” Are you going to help or hurt that person? Well, if you’re doing something for another person’s sake, you’re trying to help that person in some way, right?

So, how does making Adam work harder benefit him and by extension, us?

Consider this: 

“Only one professional football team that plays its home games in a domed stadium with artificial turf has ever won the Super Bowl: The St. Louis Rams in 2000.
“While a climate-controlled stadium protects players (and fans) from the misery of sleet, snow, mud, heat, and wind, players who brave the elements on a regular basis are disciplined to handle hardship wherever it's found. The Green Bay Packers were the 1996 Super Bowl champions, in part, because of the discipline gained from regularly playing in some of the worst weather in the country.
“Endure hardship as discipline. ... No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it’ (Hebrews 12:7),(Hebrews 12:11).”[1]

Challenges make us stronger, but that’s not all. If we allow them to, they can help us focus on what’s really important. Many of us know that Beethoven, the great composer was deaf for a large part of his adult life. He was, in fact, completely deaf by the time he turned 47. The process of going deaf had taken 16 years. Can you imagine being aware that the sense most needed for your chosen occupation was leaving you and you couldn’t do anything to stop it?

Beethoven was severely depressed and actually admitted to thinking of suicide. But he never quit composing music that he could only hear in his imagination.

The best know piece that Beethoven wrote during the time he was completely deaf, is his Ninth Symphony. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Anyway, several years ago, my sons and I had an opportunity to hear the whole symphony performed in person. It was spectacular. As we discussed it on the way home, my oldest son made an observation that has changed my way of thinking about limitations.

I made some comment like, “Imagine if Beethoven could do that when he was deaf, what he could have done if he could still hear.” My son, a senior in high school at the time, and a musician, quickly disagreed with me. He pointed out his belief that Beethoven’s deafness had focused him more completely – so much so that my son felt that the Ninth Symphony was based on the one thing Beethoven could still “hear” – his heartbeat. See if you can’t hear it the next time you’re listening to the Ninth Symphony.

Why did God introduce struggles and challenges after the Fall? Well, for one thing, have you ever met a child who has no limits? Challenges teach us discipline. Like for Beethoven, they can help us block out the trivia and noise around us and help us focus on what’s important.

And, as Paul reminds us, learning to live within our limitations teaches us humility and our need for a Savior.

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

And finally, there’s this:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4

Why do I have sticker burs in my carpet? Probably because I need to vacuum more. But God gave us thorns  for our sakes, because He wants us to stay close to Him

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[1] Greg Asimakoupoulos, Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 3

Captive

In his book, The Three Edwards, Thomas Costain tells the story of three kings of England from 1272 to 1377 all of whom were conveniently (and confusingly) named Edward. Anyway, according to a well-used illustration from Costain’s book, in the mid to late 1300s, there was a Duke Raynald III. He was extremely overweight. (How fat was he?) Well, he was so fat that people didn’t call him by his name anymore (that might not have been so awful since his name was Raynald), the called him by the nickname, Crassus, which means fat in Latin. So essentially everybody just called him fatso. Ouch!

His younger brother was one of the Edwards (the third one, I think), and somewhere along the way, Raynald and Edward had a huge disagreement and Edward led a revolt against Raynald. In most stories like this, the overthrown person was killed or, at the very least, locked away in some dungeon or tower never to be seen again. Edward had a better idea – he had a room built around Raynald, inside Raynald’s own castle. Edward told Raynald that he could take over his castle and his property just as soon as he could leave his new room.

There were no locks on the doors or windows…so what held Raynald in his room? Why didn’t he just walk out and take his castle back? Well, when Edward had the room built, he made sure that all the doors and windows were smaller than normal. They were big enough for someone who was thin to go in and out, but Raynald was too fat to get through the door. The only way he could leave the room was to lose weight.

So, why didn’t he do it? Well, I’m pretty sure every morning he woke up and said to himself, “Ok, today I’m going to only eat a little bit.” And maybe he could have done it, except that, every day, his brother, Edward made sure that all kinds of delicious and tempting food was sent into Raynald’s room. And Raynald got fatter and fatter all the time.

Some folks told Edward that he was being cruel to Raynald but Edward said, "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills."

Raynald only got out of that room after Edward died in battle in 1371. By then it was too late for Raynald. His health was gone and he died later the same year.[1]

Raynald may not have been a prisoner, but he was held captive…not so much by his brother, but by his appetite.

If you think about it, we’re all a lot like Raynald and Satan is like Edward. Whatever our individual weaknesses are, he makes sure to keep those temptations coming so that we won’t be able to escape.

Unlike Raynald, though, we have Someone on our side who is willing to help us escape.

“The Word does not say that we are to count it all joy when we fall under temptation, but when we fall into temptation. It is not necessary to fall under temptation, for temptation comes upon us for the trying of our faith. And the trying of our faith worketh patience, not fretfulness and murmuring. If we put our trust in Jesus, He will keep us at all times, and will be our strength and shield. We are to learn valuable lessons from our trials. Paul says, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope ...” (Romans 5:3-5).
“Many seem to think that it is impossible not to fall under temptation, that they have no power to overcome, and they sin against God with their lips, talking discouragement and doubt instead of faith and courage. Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). What does this mean? It means that the prince of evil could find no vantage ground in Christ for his temptation. And so it may be with us....” (E.G. White, That I May Know Him, p. 279)

If, as Mrs. White says, “It is not necessary to fall under temptation …,” why do we continue to give in? Why is it so difficult to withstand temptation?

My theory is that we fall because our first thought when we’re tempted isn’t, “Help me Jesus,” but “Oh, that’s interesting.”

When Eve walked past the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, her first mistake was that she didn’t keep walking. She stopped to look at the tree. She may have already been thinking about how delicious the fruit looked and had the off-hand thought, “This fruit looks so good, I wonder why we can’t eat it,” even before the serpent spoke to her.

Was that thought, by itself, a sin? Could she have still walked on by at that point and everything be ok? Yes, I think so. But as she was thinking those thoughts, she stood by the tree admiring the fruit for just a little bit too long and then, with just a few words, the serpent had her.

In the C.S. Lewis book, Perelandra,  (2^nd book of the Space Trilogy), Lewis explores the power of evil and temptation. The book takes place on newly peopled Venus. The innocent woman is pursued by someone who is trying to get her to commit a sin. The hero, named Ransom, tries to come between the woman and the evil presence and keep her from sinning. The pursuit goes on for days and Lewis is able to discuss the complexities of the conflict between good and evil. My only problem with the book (even though it’s one of my favorites on many other levels) is that the innocent woman comes off as clueless … and I don’t believe that Eve was that unaware. I believe that she knew she shouldn’t be around the tree…but she just wanted to look at it. And once she let that thought become an action, the next thought, “That fruit looks really yummy” becomes a question of God’s authority, “I wonder why we can’t eat it.” So that when the serpent showed up and asked her the same question, she had already fallen. Taking and eating the fruit was just the outward sign.

The battle is fought in our minds. That’s why Paul says, 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5

With the help of the Holy Spirit we must take every thought captive and turn it over to God so that the temptations we experience all day every day don’t get caught in our minds and become something more.

Let’s not become captives of temptations like Raynald. God is just waiting to send each of us the help we need every single moment.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1Corinthians 10:13

[1] Thomas Costain, The Three Edwards, Buccaneer Books

Check Mate (Delayed)

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 11.3.12

I have been known to be kind of a klutz … not altogether undeservedly, I’m afraid. Well, this week I cut my finger while fixing lunch. The truly sad part about the whole thing was that I knew it was going to happen, but could not seem to make my hand move out of the way of the knife. Thankfully, though painful, the cut didn’t need anything more than a bandage, but it got me thinking about inevitability.

Then I read a story told by Contemporary Christian singer, songwriter and author, Carolyn Arends that perfectly summed up what I was thinking.

Arends relates a memory from her childhood of listening to visiting missionaries sharing their experiences in the mission field. In this particular story, the missionary couple told a story about a snake.

“One day, they told us, an enormous snake—much longer than a man—slithered its way right through their front door and into the kitchen of their simple home. Terrified, they ran outside and searched frantically for a local who might know what to do. A machete-wielding neighbor came to the rescue, calmly marching into their house and decapitating the snake with one clean chop.
“The neighbor reemerged triumphant and assured the missionaries that the reptile had been defeated. But there was a catch, he warned: It was going to take a while for the snake to realize it was dead.
“A snake's neurology and blood flow are such that it can take considerable time for it to stop moving even after decapitation. For the next several hours, the missionaries were forced to wait outside while the snake thrashed about, smashing furniture and flailing against walls and windows, wreaking havoc until its body finally understood that it no longer had a head.
“Sweating in the heat, they had felt frustrated and a little sickened but also grateful that the snake's rampage wouldn't last forever. And at some point in their waiting, they told us, they had a mutual epiphany.
“I leaned in with the rest of the congregation, queasy and fascinated. ‘Do you see it?’ asked the husband. ‘Satan is a lot like that big old snake. He's already been defeated. He just doesn't know it yet. In the meantime, he's going to do some damage. But never forget that he's a goner.’”[1]

Does that story remind of you anything? It does me. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

The only part of Arends’ story with which I disagree is that I believe that Satan knows (and has known since Jesus died and rose again) that he’s lost but is determined to wreak as much havoc as he possibly can.

“A battle unseen by human eyes is being waged. The army of the Lord is on the ground, seeking to save souls. Satan and his host are also at work, trying in every possible way to deceive and destroy. . . . Day by day the battle goes on. If our eyes could be opened to see the good and evil agencies at work, there would be no trifling, no vanity, no jesting or joking. If all would put on the whole armor of God and fight manfully the battles of the Lord, victories would be gained that would cause the kingdom of darkness to tremble.” (Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 41)

My brother and I played all kinds of board games as kids. In general, he is the better game player, so there would come a point in almost every game when I knew that I was going to lose. Sometimes when I saw that loss coming, I would just quit, but sometimes I would hang on and try to cause as much damage as I could before the inevitable happened. Chess was probably the most frustrating for both of us. I really stunk but I was pretty much his only option for a partner if he wanted to play. I can remember so many times when I’d be down to just a couple of pieces. I would only be able to move back and forth between two or three spaces. I knew it was just a matter of time until my brother would close in and call, “Check Mate,” but I wouldn’t quit until he actually said those words

.

It’s called being a sore loser and anybody who might have been watching would have known which of us was the better player and which of us was being a pouty little girl.

The Great Controversy between Jesus and Satan isn’t about who wins or loses anymore because ever since Jesus died on the cross and then rose again, we all know Who’s already won. What we, and all the beings in the universe are observing now is a demonstration of the character of God – God who allows each individual the freedom to accept or reject His salvation, who is eternally just and loving.

“But in spite of all the efforts of the enemy to make of none effect the word of God, he who has a heart to search for truth will find it; for it lies open before him, revealed in the word of God, as the secrets of nature are open to him who studies her laws. God’s word is the revelation of all truth; and in laboring for souls, the minister should seek to unveil the truth in such a way that it will make the right impression upon the heart, that the sinner may renounce his allegiance to Satan, and turn to Christ. Jesus is ready to accept the soul who turns to him, pleading the merits of the blood of Christ. He will receive, pardon, purify, and make him whole. But before this point is reached, before the soul surrenders to Christ, there is a time when the will is vacillating, when the soul is under conviction, and pressed by doubt, and it is then that a strong personal effort should be made. The minister should come close to the trembling one, and point him to Calvary, lifting up a crucified and risen Saviour as the sinner’s only hope. There are many whose hearts are as hard as the beaten highway, and apparently it is a useless effort to present the truth to them; but while logic may fail to move, and argument be worthless to convince, let the laborer for Christ come close to such in Christlike sympathy and compassion, and it may be that the love of Christ will subdue and melt the soul into tenderness and contrition. ‘The world by wisdom knew not God.’ Let the wayward and hard-hearted be led to the feet of Jesus; here they may learn precious lessons of love of their Creator and Redeemer, and hope will spring up. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’” (E.G. White, Review and Herald, May 31, 1892)

Which side will you be on when the final battle is fought? We know who wins – Jesus has already said the final words: “Check Mate!”

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[1] Carolyn Arends, "Satan's a Goner: A lesson from a Headless Snake," Christianity Today (February, 2011)

Are you hearing voices?

If not, maybe you’re not listening hard enough.  I think most of us “hear” two opposing voices all the time.  One of those voices belongs to the serpent who tricked Eve in the Garden, ruining God’s perfect world, and one is the voice of One who created us, loves us and died for us.  From that perspective, you’d think it would be easy to decide to whom we should listen, wouldn’t you?  But it really, really isn’t.  In fact, it seems like most of the time I find myself listening and acting on the wrong one.  In fact, I feel exactly like Paul describes in Romans 7:14-25:

We know that the law is holy. But I am not. I have been sold to be a slave of sin. I don't understand what I do. I don't do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate to do. I do what I don't want to do. So I agree that the law is good. As it is, I am no longer the one who does these things. It is sin living in me that does them.

I know there is nothing good in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I can't. I don't do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don't want to do. I do what I don't want to do. But I am not really the one who is doing it. It is sin living in me.

Here is the law I find working in me. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Deep inside me I find joy in God's law. But I see another law working in the parts of my body. It fights against the law of my mind. It makes me a prisoner of the law of sin. That law controls the parts of my body.  What a terrible failure I am! Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body? I give thanks to God. He will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

So in my mind I am a slave to God's law. But in my sinful nature I am a slave to the law of sin.

So, how do we learn to hear God’s voice over Satan’s?

In Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 52&53, Ellen White says that Adam and Eve weren’t taken by surprise by Satan, that “heavenly messengers” had showed them the war in heaven and had warned them that Satan would be out to get them, but that if they followed God’s rules, they would be safe from him.  “While they were obedient to God, the evil one could not harm them; for, if need be, every angel in heaven would be sent to their help.”  I hadn’t really thought about that before.  Another thing I just learned is that Satan wasn’t allowed to chase them around the Garden to tempt them; he could only stay in that one tree.  Thinking about it now, it seems like it should have been pretty easy to stay out of trouble…they knew what to expect and where to expect it, and they still walked right into trouble.  We haven’t gotten any better over the years have we?  God has told us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  And what do we do?  We douse ourselves thoroughly with raw hamburger; walk right up to him and say, “Howdy!”  God must just shake his head, roll his eyes, and wonder… “What are they thinking?” 

He must cry as well.  Can you imagine the heartbreak He felt as He watched Eve and then Adam take bites of the fruit?  Sure, He knew they would, but when it happened for real, it must have torn His heart out.  I don’t think it gets any easier for Him as we trip, stumble, fall, crash into things and make fools of ourselves as we try to keep ourselves from sinning. 

It should be so easy!  You just tune your ear to God, and you’ll be fine.  Right?

Yeah, sure.  Six thousand years sinning have brought each of us to the point that it’s just easier to hear the lies that Satan tells, than the truth of Jesus.  Satan is free to chase us around and tempt us all the time.   We can be doing really well, walking in Christ, doing what we should be doing, and BANG!  Satan will put a thought in our minds that has nothing to do with anything, but we entertain that thought for just a micro-second…and  he has us.  Satan uses the same tricks with us that he used with Eve.  He takes the gifts that God has given us and uses them against us.  Satan appealed to Eve’s “physical, aesthetic and intellectual nature.”  He approaches each of us in the same way and because we have given ourselves over to those natures and forgotten our heavenly natures we almost can’t help but sin.

There is hope though.  God promised back there in the Garden that He would stand with us against evi,l that He would never leave us to face Satan alone.  Unfortunately, even though He never leaves us, we are always wandering away from Him.  Part of that is another inheritance from Adam and Eve.  After they sinned, they tried to hide from God because they had an “overpowering sense of sin and a dread of the future.”  So, they hid.  But they were also hiding from themselves.  When we sin we separate ourselves from God and from who God created us to be.  We, like Adam and Eve, try to sidestep the responsibility of our sin and place it on someone or something else because we are trying to avoid seeing how sinful we have become.  Amazingly enough, though, God knows, and He loves us anyway.  All He’s waiting for us to do is to turn to Him and ask for His help and forgiveness.  As soon as we do that He’ll wrap us in His arms and tell us He loves us and how much He’s missed us. 

So, whose voice are we listening for?  Jesus voice isn’t loud or pushy and so many things out there scream louder – work, school, radio, TV, newspapers, families, friends, shopping, even relaxing.  It’s really, really hard for me to turn all those things down so that I can hear “the still small voice” that I need to listen to.  I’m so glad that Jesus doesn’t give up when I don’t listen the first, or the thousandth time He tries to teach me.  I’m thankful that He’s patient, more patient than I deserve, when I fall over the same sin time and time again.  I feel blessed that He loves me so much that He gave up His life so that I could live with Him.  I’m looking forward to walking with Him through the heavenly garden like Adam and Eve walked through Eden with Him.  And, can you imagine, Jesus is looking forward to that too.  I want to hear Jesus talking to me face to face someday, but for now, I will listen to His still small voice – the Voice of Truth.