God Motivation and the Confusion

You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”  “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
(Malachi 2:17-3:2)

Confused and frustrated.  That's probably not a bad description of the people Malachi was preaching to.  When they were told that they were a people who were wearisome to God, they acted all clueless.  Most of them in all likelihood were not going around and cursing God's name or saying that they didn't believe He existed.  But it becomes clear what it was that they were doing.  They had set their own standards instead of sticking with the Lord's to the point where they were redefining what was good and what was bad.  We are masters at this!  What has always happened is that we look at what does and what does not seem to yield immediate negative consequences and then define on the spot what is good/bad, acceptable/unacceptable.  But then when consequences catch up to us later on, we start to see things breaking down around us, or when we are confronted on some matter by God's way that we have dismissed, we scratch our heads, beat on the table, and say, "What the heck?!"  Now what I don't think that Malachi was saying and what I don't want to say either is that life is hunky-dory when we keep all the rules.  But what is true is that when we're ignoring what God has put in place and are establishing our own measuring rods of what is right and wrong, what glorifies God and what does not, we always end up frustrated and, in the end, proven wrong.

That's where the judgement bit comes in.  People were seeing how life wasn't working out corporately as a nation--they had expectations of better days.  They wanted to know when God was going to clean things up.  When was it that the Promised One was going to come and make things the way they wanted them to be, putting them back up on top of the world as God's covenant people???  Not so fast.  Yes, He (Jesus) would come (announced by the messenger that we recognize today as John the Baptist) and His coming would be a wonderful thing.  But they had to realize that His coming might not be as pleasant for them as they would hope.  He would come as a mighty Purifier and Cleanser, starting with the nation Israel, the nation that He would be born into.  Calling evil good would need to be dealt with.  This purifying and cleansing would yield something wonderful, but it would also be a painful process along the way.  They needed to ask themselves if they were prepared for such.  That was the day for them to seek the Lord and ask Him to refine their hearts according to His standards so that they would be God motivated and not self directed; it was a day for repentance and holy worship.  It was a day with many elements that we should see as perfectly fitting for us today. 

God Motivation and The Professionals

And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
(Malachi 2:13-15)

Yet another question and yet another direct (and somewhat painful) answer.  It is apparent that in the giving of gifts to the LORD upon the alter, God was making it clear that He was not pleased.  It has been established already in Malachi that many of the offerings themselves had been physically tainted--animals that were blind or in some other way inappropriate.  But maybe there were a lot of "good offerings" too.  Maybe some of the priests were holding to the right forms and making sure that they followed the guidelines for the kinds of gifts that were to be given on the alter.  It could be that they had all that down and were saying at the end of a day, "Well, another satisfactory job done.  Offering law number 1?  Check.  Offering law number 2?  Check.  Offering law number 3?..."  You get the picture.  But then God looked and, figuratively speaking, shook His head.  Ouch.  The tears ensued.  "What else do you want God?!"

The Levites were the community's holy men, priests who took care of the people's sacrifices.  That was their job.  But then God did the unthinkable.  He invaded their home lives and asked for purity!  Gasp!  How could He?!  Somewhere along the line everyone came up with the idea that it was OK for priests to be one thing outside of work and another within it.  There was a line drawn in the sand between professional life and personal life.  God had given them wives and children to care for and lead in the ways of godliness, showing the kind of steadfast love that the Lord Himself displays.  But, you know, things weren't working out sometimes on that front and so it became "better for everyone" for the priests to work things out their own way...again, outside of work of course.

Those times really were not so different from some of the core junk we deal with today in the church.  And God's standards haven't changed.  In fact, for followers of Jesus, the bar has been raised and the language inclusive.  ALL such believers are said to a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5).  For Christians, there is no divide between professional and personal or any other sort of divide that we might try to make.  God and His glorification is to be our motivation in all that we do wherever we go--work, home, school, etc.  May He set our hearts (for it is the heart that He has always been after) in such a wholly devoted place today.

God Motivation and My Recycling

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
(Malachi 1:6-8)

Round 2 of Q&A.  Round 2 of some of the cluelessness that we need to identify with.  Often we're better at knowing how to treat fellow humans in places of authority than we are at knowing how to treat God.  That was the issue with Israel.  They were able to look at father/son relationships and servant/master dynamics and realize where honor ought to be given and reverent fear needed to take place.  They would then, as part of their culture call God "Father" and give Him the title of "Master."  But God's question to them was, "Are you really fearing and honoring Me in the way that servants and sons are called to do so?"  I can identify with the people of that time.  How often it is that I call God the right things, even in prayer to Him, without giving Him the according respect and servitude that I ought.  Worse yet, how many times have I taught or preached about the Lord and used the right words only to turn around and act in opposite ways--failing to trust Him when I've spoken of faith, being loose with my words after talking about guarding our speech, etc.  When it comes to "God wording" with my lips I often do OK; when it comes to God motivation with my heart I often stink.

In all of these inconsistencies God's argument was that they, specifically the priests, were despising His name.  "What?!  How?!"  Again, God points out their according actions.  They were giving to Him, on the alter, the kinds of gifts that they wouldn't even dream of giving to their governors!  There were specific instructions for the kinds of animal sacrifices that were to be made.  Essentially, they were to be perfect in function and appearance; flaws were unacceptable.  But these guys were giving to God the equivalent of the kinds of stuff you can't get rid of at a garage sale, try to take to Goodwill afterward, and end up finding out that they don't want it either.  Apparently the people were looking through their flocks, finding what they found to no longer be useful, and using the alter as their recycling bin.  Not only was this ridiculously disobedient to God, but it did a terrible job of preparing people for the Messiah, Jesus, would would be the perfect sacrifice, the one and only Son of God, untarnished to the end, who would spill out His blood to cover the sin of multitudes.  Their flippancy was a big deal because the Father is a big deal, because Jesus is a big deal, and because the plan of redemption They designed is a crazy big deal.  What will I give to God today in the presentation of myself and all my activities as that living sacrifice I'm called to be?  My cast-offs?  My recycling?  May better things come...by God's grace at work in me, may better things come.

God Motivation and the Favorite Verses

“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”
(Malachi 1:2-5)

These are the most popular verses in all the Bible.  When people sit down and think, "What should I read from God's Word today?," they flip to Malachi 1, cock their heads to one side, smile, and say, "Now isn't that beautiful."  Maybe not.  The problem that many will face in reading this (and probably the tension that everyone should feel) is in accepting the fact that God talks about hating someone...other than the devil, of course.  And though we could try to sort all that out and need to consider it, we don't want to miss the big thing that God was communicating to His people.

This passage contains one of many questions that are asked in the book of Malachi.  The people had heard that God loved them and they wanted proof that such was true.  That's when God gives them the answer that makes Christians cringe, "I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated."  (The first part is looked at by us, and we say, "A+ God...good job!" and the second part we do a read-cough through so that nobody hears clearly what is said.  God, after all, doesn't mind that we take Him off the hook now and then.)  But what we are told here and need to see about God's love is that He has proven it.  He has said to Jacob's heritage, "I chose you.  I looked at you and wanted you before you even had awareness."  If your heart or mine is tender to that kind of statement, we need to know that such love can be ours.  It's not exactly the kind of linear thinking that most of us enjoy operating in, but it's true nonetheless; and, if we are willing to accept it, it's beautiful.

The aim of the prophet Malachi was to get God's people to see how great God's love and might were as He exercised such things on their behalf.  They were to be swept up in humble, jubilant praise as they considered how great God was beyond the border of Israel.  We don't need to run with the "God hates Esau" phrase in some weird, reckless way and end up thinking (like many in Israel did) that the individuals that don't have Hebrew blood in them are outside of God's redemptive plan.  Good grief, there are "pagans" in the lineage of Jesus who came to know the wonders of God and realize His love as they walked with His people.  What we need to know is that God's love is deep and not washed out and takes aim and isn't based on our measuring up.  We need to look at our own state as those not of ethnic Israel and declare, "Great is the LORD beyond the boarders of Israel!"  If God is our motivation for what we say and do instead of something we try to muster up or reason out in ourselves, such will the cry of our hearts.

God Motivation and the Spirit Lamp

The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD,
        searching all his innermost parts.
(Proverbs 20:27)

Even though it's not the newest technology out there, I still think that the tools doctors/surgeons have to look into the human body are pretty fascinating.  Tiny lighted cameras traveling down narrow passageways in search for certain problems is just pretty amazing.  But what those in the medical field (or any field) don't have is the ability that is mentioned here--nobody can look that deep.

Think about it for a moment.  God has designed the spiritual core of a human being to shine in such a way that everything about him/her is revealed.  Though it's an inadequate description, I picture a miner who has placed a lantern in the recesses of a hidden cave, who knows just how to walk to it in the dark, and then lights it to reveal to his own eyes everything he's digging out, shaping, reinforcing, preserving, and drawing out for use and display on the outside. 

The fact that God sees me in this way is so encouraging.  There's something in each of us that wants to really be known for who we are, to be fully understood and mapped out so that we don't have any explaining to do or reasons to give for why we're feeling a certain way or need to do certain things.  God's done the mapping and sees all of that with each person.  There's no reason to try and hide anything from Him and there's no sense in worrying about whether or not God will miss something and forget to take care of a need.  I'm so thankful that He does that.  I'm so thankful that He knew my need for Jesus and showed me that need so that my innermost parts could be changed and my "lamp" not condemned when my "cave" crumbles.  I'm so blessed to know a little something of pure God motivation because of the work He's done in me.  And I'm blessed to know that He's not done with the work.

God Motivation and Oxen Pies

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
        but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
(Proverbs 14:4)

I've seen a fair amount of feeding troughs and cow pies since I grew up in an area where there were plenty of pastures that cattle grazed in, but I guess I can't really say that I know what an oxen manger or pies looks like.  Perhaps the latter are a bit like the buffalo chips you see depicted in Westerns--the ones that they use as fuel for their fires??  S'mores anyone?  It sounds like I'm on my way down a rabbit trail, but the first half of this verse really is about the presence or absence of oxen troughs and dung.  But the second part is about what else oxen do: bring in a crop.  The farmer then, as he thinks about how he is going to make ends meet, needs to think about the pros and cons of having oxen.  He realizes that owning one (or many) means that he's going to have to shelter, feed, and clean up after this huge beast.  That's a messy job that includes expenses and daily maintenance.  But then when it's time for field work, that ox is going to be a huge blessing that will save a ton of time and energy, not to mention the yielding of a bigger harvest overall.

So yes, this proverb is speaking of poop and productivity.  But the Proverbs are meant to teach us more than only what the words say; they're about principles we're meant to apply to our daily lives.  In other words, we take a verse like this one and ask ourselves, "What sort of thing(s) is like an ox in my life?  What might I be possessing, or considering possessing, that comes both with significant cost and significant gains?"  For us, it's an extra property that we own.  Not having it would in some ways mean a "cleaner," simpler life.  But possessing it is, when both units are rented out, is an income stream for us.  This is one of those deals that has, for the last year as we've lived nearly 1 1/2 hours away, been such a toss up for us.  There are enough complications in life and things to put energy into right in one's own neighborhood to keep a family busy enough.  But being a single-income household is getting to be more and more of a challenge with each passing day, and that property serves as that other part-time income...when it's working well.

What then are the oxen in our lives?  What, when we weigh the pros and cons, still leave us wondering what to do and which way to go?  What is the God motivated way in this area for the Christ follower?  That is, what direction do we go when we might think of what it looks like to be about kingdom work as we aim at the glory of God being more thoroughly displayed through our lives--does the ox stay or go?  The answers lie with the One who is to be our motivation; seek wisdom from Him today.

God Motivation and the Yeahbut

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."  But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
(Luke 10:25-29)

It seems that the "yeahbut" has been around forever.  We could make all kinds of jokes about how this one came from a lawyer and we would expect such, but the whole deal started well before that.  Remember Adam and Eve after they sinned?  They held a yeahbut rally right there in the garden wearing nothing but fig leaves and frowns.  God asked about their folly of eating the fruit He told them to keep their mouths off of, and their same mouths spouted off something that sounded a lot like the yeahbuts we've been tossing around ever since.  "Yeah, but she handed it to me!"  "Yeah, but the snake tricked me with...well...a yeahbut!"

It's funny to joke about it in that way but it's also a really sad deal when we realize that we're part of that same strain of yeahbut speaking people (and snakes!).  The yeahbut is so rotten because it accepts as true something that God has laid down for our and everyone else's good but then excuses us from being accountable to that truth.  We say that our circumstances are different.  We say that we've tried to walk by that certain instruction and it didn't work out the way we hoped it would.  Really, in our own acrobatic, weaseling ways, we're looking for that opportunity to affirm something we know in our hearts is dangerous to deny without submitting to the life-altering commitment it will impose on us.  In looking at the story at hand, I don't think that the lawyer really thought he was doing anything out of line.  He had a well thought out, well-groomed yeahbut that he probably figured Jesus hadn't thought through just yet.  "Oh Jesus, simple little Jesus, you've forgotten to define the word, 'neighbor.'  Gotcha!"  Jesus, however, had been privy to the yeahbut for a pretty long time and proceeded to tell him the story of what we call, "The Good Samaritan."

When it comes down to it, I need to ask myself a question today concerning what I'm going to do with a command like, "Love God with your all and love your neighbor."  The yeahbuts are going to creep in from every angle today so I need to be aware of them.  I'll have schedules to keep, plans to make, and opportunities I don't want to let slip past.  There are going to be times where I'll want to justify myself against any disruptions by saying that my day has go to a certain way, especially since it's filled up with "good things" already.

"Lord, guard my heart from throwing yeahbuts at You in the hours ahead.  Be my inspiration and motivation in all I do."

God Motivation and the Cold we Accept

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down,
        but a good word makes him glad.
(Proverbs 12:25)

Anxiousness is probably a far bigger problem for me than I even realize during a normal day.  Such is the case because, I believe, it has become a habit.  I worry about my family and their safety.  I worry about what our next steps in life will look like and how I'll be spending those 40+ hours a week in the next season.  I worry about money and whether or not certain income streams will remain so that we can pay our mortgages.  Now these worries for me aren't normally crippling.  The combination of them is more like a mild cold you wrestle with all through the winter.  It's hard to know at certain points whether or not your nose is drippy because there's a draft or because you're a little bit sick.  But you live with it because, well, that's just the way it is and probably most other people are battling that "cold" too.  Then there are other times though that you really feel it; it weighs you down, as the verse at hand says.  One or two of those things that you feel it's your responsibility to take care of gets a little shaky and you start to get more flu-ish than just sniffly.  You could use a good word.

Such encouragements can come in different ways.  We might have a friend identify with us or point out the positives in life.  "Look at all the things that are stable and going well," she might say.  Or it might be that a family member gives that reminder that he is here for you as a support.  Those things are helpful.  But then it might be that something you've been hoping for or waiting on finally begins to take shape or come within grasp.  Someone who is sick might take a turn for the better.  That phone call or email comes through like a ray of sunshine to be that "good word that makes [you] glad."

I believe it's OK to be lifted up by such things.  We wouldn't be told in the Scriptures that we're to be good neighbors and tender encouragers if it weren't so.  But we really miss it in life if we don't lay hold of that one good word which promises an eternity of gladness--that good word of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He died and was raised; His blood was poured out for sinners like us and His life restored incorruptible as the prototype for His followers.  Yes, this is that over-arching good word that should guard all disciples from despair.  The God motivated mind and heart says that worry can be set aside; Jesus has removed the weight that otherwise would crush us forever.

God Motivation and the Fair Devil

    May God be gracious to us and bless us
        and make his face to shine upon us,
    that your way may be known on earth,
        your saving power among all nations.
    Let the peoples praise you, O God;
        let all the peoples praise you!
(Psalm 67:1-3)

It makes a lot of sense that we would ask God for things.  In fact, we're told to bring our requests before Him.  We can look through the Bible and see how He's heard people's prayers and responded positively, and maybe we've seen that a good deal in our own lives.  But it's not just that God has a good reputation for being a giving God.  Since He's the God who made it all and has it all, the One who never runs dry and even makes bread and fish in a basket keep filling up from underneath as quickly as someone can grab from the top, we can believe that He's got more than leftovers to offer. 

All those things are true; the Bible attests to them.  There's more to the story, however.  Why should we make requests of God?  What's our end game?  We get a statement on what it's not supposed to be from the book of James when he writes, You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions (James 4:3).  So it's wrong if our asking is all about us having more in order for us to run off with what God gives and waste it on the trivial.  Kids show us both the beauty of faith and the folly of that kind of self-absorption all at once.  We saw a bit of the latter at work earlier this summer at the State Fair.  It was a fun day overall, but one of the low points for me was the time around the kid rides or little amusement park that they had set up.  The whole thing is a racket (just let daddy vent a bit here, OK?).  You go in and buy tickets for these rides, paying about $1.50 each.  But, mind you, one ticket will buy you nothing in there...nothing.  Every ride costs at least two tickets.  And from the moment you walk in, the kids are ravenous and cannot get enough.  Their only concern is doing as much as they possibly can, and they become a little bit more engrossed in their little passions with each step through the place.  It's ugly and papa is so glad when it's time to remove ourselves from the clutches of the devil and move on to things like $6 hotdogs.  I digress.  But I say all that to illustrate that the way in which our kids receive and spend their tickets at the fair is not what we want our lives to look like as we would receive and "spend" the gifts we receive from God.

Notice what the psalmist says after he asks for blessings from the Lord.  He essentially says, "Give these, Lord, SO THAT people are going to see how incredible you are as a God who does everything the right way, giving salvation to people as You go.  I want more praise from more people to go to you, God!"  What the writer desired was not for what he received to terminate on himself but on the same God who gave to him.  That's what we need to think about as we ask for God's blessings.  We must be thinking about how we can use what He gives to invest in His glorification and not our glutting.  That's right at the heart of God motivation. 

God Motivation and Eating Well

    Take my instruction instead of silver,
        and knowledge rather than choice gold,
    for wisdom is better than jewels,
        and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
(Proverbs 8:10-11)

Each day I'm faced with decisions of what I'll run after.  Now, to be sure, nobody is holding up before my nose right now a bag of silver, pot of gold, or chest of jewels.  Whether or not to grab for those exact things has never been a choice I've needed to make.  But there is a certain amount of energy and time that I've been given in each new day.  And there are all around me miniature adventures that I could jump into and explore, opportunities that I might invest in.  Even at this moment, I'm using the internet to type out these thoughts, a world in and of itself that can take me to any and all kinds of places.  And in this city there is merchandise galore.  I could take the day and spend myself entirely on the kind of substances described above, whether in the buying of them, the hungering after them, or engrossing myself in them.  And at the end of the day, I'd be empty, either needing to change course the following day or trying to fill up once again on the same pursuits and investments.  The things representing silver, gold, and jewels don't enrich in the ways that instruction, knowledge, and wisdom do.  The contrast is so great in fact that we're told there isn't even a comparison between what we can conceive in our minds (or desire) and what we can have through wisdom specifically: all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

I think this concept is one of those things like many truths that you either hear and identify with or just entirely disregard.  I don't mean that anyone is practicing the pursuit of the right things perfectly but simply that it clicks in your mind if you've had a taste.  It's a bit like that feeling when you're on a health kick and eating right--you feel good.  But then you eat some garbage that "hits the spot" in the moment but makes you feel like the trash it was later on.  You go to the fridge the next time for a snack and need that morsel that's just right, that thing that's good at the time and doesn't bring regrets later.  That's what getting a taste for instruction, wisdom, and knowledge is like.  It's good...and if you leave it for a season, you're miserable until you come back.  It's good because God made it to be so and those substances lead us to Him since they come from Him.  Pursuing them is part of God motivation.  Eat well today.

God Motivation and My Shine

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44)

This is a question Jesus had for those who were ticked off at Him for doing good things for people on the Sabbath.  He was speaking to a group that was so tied up with their traditions, their authority among God's people, and their own glory that they had come to the point of being OK with people continuing in their suffering on Saturdays in order to keep their thumb on the Great Physician.  It was tragic in so many ways.  It was tragic for the people that they were supposed to be shepherding because there was no true care going on; to their leaders it was all about control and not about serving.  It was in a sense "tragic" for the ministry of Jesus because of how it would lead to His execution (through which, of course, He ultimately had victory).  But it was tragic also for the religious leaders because their own hearts became hardened to the point of disbelief through the seeking of their own praise and glory.  Misplaced glorification squelches belief.

If you're like me, you don't mind a bit of praise.  That doesn't mean that we want the big spotlight in front of a crowd necessarily; that might terrify us depending on our personality.  But we're alright with having glory terminate on us and having people know that we're tops in this or that little area...that place in which we like to sparkle like a little diamond.  And when that happens, we believe a little less that God is the One who is truly awesome, that He is the One that should completely astonish us.  When you and I start seeking praise for ourselves, we slowly quit seeing our areas of giftedness as gifts from our Dad who made us and instilled those things in us.  Over time then, we start to give our own ideas and words a kind of authority that they weren't ever really meant to have.  We believe God's Word just a little bit less and don't see it as the ultimate trump card that it really is over everything that we think and produce.  Again, belief dies a little bit each time we misplace glory.

We've got to learn the lesson from the lives of the Jewish big shots of Jesus' day.  They bought in to their own philosophies and would rather have people dead than be challenged by the God they said they worshiped.  Everything was turned on its head and their hearts were hardened against belief in their Messiah.  Are we willing to have God call all the shots even for very motives of our hearts in order that those motives might be pure...in order that our words and actions and lives are rightly directed?  God motivation is a guardian of belief.

God Motivation and the Balance Beam

Let your eyes look directly forward,
        and your gaze be straight before you.
    Ponder the path of your feet;
        then all your ways will be sure.
    Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
        turn your foot away from evil.
(Proverbs 4:25-27)

Humanly speaking, we're always about 1/2 step away from making a disaster out of our lives.  Now, I say "humanly speaking" because I know that God is sovereignly ruling, but part of His sovereign rule has been to give us practical words like these.

This world is first of all full of distractions, so part of the way we must keep our bearings is to look ahead to our destination.  Watching young children gives you a picture of what this does not look like.  This is why we hold their hands while walking through a busy parking lot or crossing the street.  They are constantly looking this way and that with their feet following what their eyes see.  While this is part of the natural beauty of a child and his curiosity, it paints a picture of what the unsteadied eyes of one's heart looks like and reminds us of the heavy traffic we could easily throw ourselves into.

We're told also to, in a matter of speaking, "watch your step."  It's not enough to see the goal and head toward it.  Walking through life is like walking through a forest on a path.  There are roots, dens, perhaps even traps that we would not want to put a foot into.  One wrong step can be disastrous.

Finally, life is often like a dark alley that we must walk through with sinister figures leaning up against a building here and sitting in a corner there, each one having something to offer the one who might step aside from his/her course.  As quickly as our eyes light upon them and temptation rise up in our hearts, we must point our foot to pass them.

We must engage life today with God motivation, aiming at His pleasure and not our own.  While we need not fear with the Spirit to guide and Christ as our example, we must also realize that one wrong turn can mean a slow and difficult road to recovery.

God Motivation and the Wind Appointment

When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:8-1).

2:30am...step, step, step, step, shuffle...SNIFF!...1...2...3...4...5...SNIFF!...1...2...3...4...5...SNIFF!  "Titus, if you're going to be in here, you can't keep sniffling," I replied.  He left tearful and still struggling with his allergies.  2:32am, another Jonah moment realized, apology given followed by mucus-loosening back patting for 15 minutes.  For me that sniffing was like the scorching wind that God brought, a wind that was meant to convict and awaken a sense of compassion for others.  I "pitied" the sleep that I had been receiving like Jonah pitied his plant.  My sleep was killed by the worm of footsteps and shuffling in the bedroom; then came the slightly more literal wind of sniffing that kept the sun of wakefulness beating on/in my head.  You see, I don't struggle much with seasonal allergies which means I sometimes lack compassion for the "Ninevites" in my house who do.  I'm annoyed and wallow in self-pity at times like 2:30 in the morning when I just want some sleep.  It doesn't matter that my little boy has been robbed of sleep from the get go through a tickled nose or throat.

God is so good to bring worms and wind into my life to keep me from putting my hope and ultimate joy in the refreshing plants He provides (instead of in Him as the Giver).  It's impossible to even imagine the amount of patience that He has with children like me who can't make it five minutes into the day without messing things up and acting as if life is all about who I see in the mirror--it's a good thing that my salvation comes by my Savior's righteousness and not by mine.  But what needs to happen for my growth and what I keep praying for each morning is that God would give me a heart that is less like Jonah's heart and more like that of Jesus.  I need a heart motivated toward and by God the Father; that's the kind of pure motivation that produces the righteousness and holiness that He calls for...the same kind that Jesus walked in each and every moment while He was here.

God Motivation and the Worm Appointment

But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered (Jonah 4:7).  I don't think it's accurate to say that God teases people, but in this instance it almost sounds like He was.  He had appointed a great fish for Jonah's rescue after a bout of serious disobedience.  He graciously later appointed a nice shade plant following some intensely hateful words from Jonah.  And here he appoints a little worm to kill the plant Jonah was so enjoying.

I wonder if Jonah thought that the story was pretty much over after his preaching was done and he had his own pleasant little resting spot on a hill outside the city.  He had tried to run from God in the beginning only to realized that such wasn't a good idea.  Then he got all up in arms over the fact that the Ninevites actually listened to his preaching; this yielded a bit of firm questioning from God.  So then when the plant came, maybe Jonah thought that the Lord was finally back to smiling on him, the nice Israelite boy that had God's favor coming to him.  Perhaps he thought that what would show up next was a fun little glass of tastiness with a plastic umbrella on top.  Instead...a worm, and no more umbrella shade at all.  What Jonah didn't realize is that the Ninevite's story was over for the day.  They had repented and were now trusting in the Almighty for their salvation.  What Jonah also didn't realize is that his story was not over for the day.  God gave him a worm to show him just that.  Jonah needed a bit of destruction in his life--he needed a plant destined to be destroyed by a parasite so that he could be further drawn out of himself. 

Sometimes I need "a worm."  I need things taken from me so that I'm reminded that this story is not about my comfort but about God's glory and Kingdom establishment.  I think I deserve lovely shade plants because I'm one of the King's kids when really I need a worm to attack my little self-made crown.  I need this for the turning of my heart from a self-seeking, self motivation to a Christ exalting God motivation in my actions, words, and thoughts.

God Motivation and the Plant Appointment

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant (Jonah 4:5-6).  From exceedingly angry to exceedingly glad to exceedingly...well, that's for next time, but I'm guessing you've got a good idea of what comes next.  The whole deal is really pretty sick, but it turns my stomach in large part because I can see my own tendencies mirrored here.  What first made Jonah hot with anger?  God spared a city of 120,000 people that would have met their demise apart from repentance.  And now why is he suddenly giddy?  God made a nice shade plant for him outside the city of Nineveh.  I'm like that sometimes.  No, I don't have a city I'd like to see zapped by God, but I do like the idea sometimes of bad people "getting what's coming to them" and don't like it when they instead seem to enjoy extra grace from God.  Actually, it can kinda make me mad.  "Why don't You act in a way that makes people take you more seriously, God?!"  I shudder a bit even as I type that--such an attitude shows that I don't get the concept of grace at all in those moments.  And then what happens sometimes later in the day?  God sends a nice little bonus of some kind...maybe like the bit of rain that we got last night after a dry spell.  "Oooo, that's nice," I say.  There's nothing wrong with enjoying the rain; it's just that earlier in the day there was a certain group of shady businessmen I heard about that I wouldn't have minded seeing thrown off a cliff--shady businessmen who won their stinking case in court against "the good guys" who might have otherwise been a blessing to my family and many others.  Jonah may as well be my middle name.

What's the solution?  Is it OK to desire justice?  Sure.  Is it OK to rejoice in the little, refreshing mercies of God?  Absolutely.  But what we often need a better understanding of is where justice is ultimately met: on the cross of Christ.  Instead of wanting to see the Smiter smite our enemies, we should pray that they would turn to see what Jesus has done on the cross in already taking punishment for sin.  If God wants to use a legal system as part of that process, great.  Putting a stop to harmful and evil practices is a good thing in and of itself--God appoints people (just like He appoints fish and plants) to keep such order here on earth.  But the bigger issue at hand is that souls without a Savior are condemned souls; we should want to see that turned around in each lost person.

It's a downright sick thing to hope against grace in people's lives and then grin like a schmuck over a sweet piece of candy.  The God motivated spirit says, "I want the world to know the joy of glorifying God through exalting Christ as saving King."  So let the next "plant" that He appoints to shade our heads humble our hearts and spur us on to see more justice realized at Calvary. 

God Motivation and the Fish Appointment

And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).  If bad fish to us tastes fishy, I can only imagine what Jonah must have tasted like to that fish...sour perhaps?  There's a really awful, dry joke in there somewhere, but I'm not going to fish it out.  At any rate, this is the first of four appointments that God brings into Jonah's life.  Simply to refresh us on the story, Jonah had received a direct call from God to head to the wicked city of Nineveh to preach truth to them.  Jonah's response was to run from God by getting on a boat headed in the opposite direction, a boat that met a terrible storm with a crew that had to unload Jonah for it to quit...really, for their own rescuing.  But the running prophet still had a job to do and God intended for Jonah to do it.

It's true that often times God gives us jobs to do that we run away from--jobs that He then gives to someone else.  But as much as Jonah might have thought that he had gotten off scot-free, that he would simply meet his demise in the swirling ocean, God had another plan and it was a wild one.  He appointed a fish to swallow Jonah, carry him around for three dark days, and then toss its cookies (and its man) onto the shore.  That's one heck of a divine appointment and it came as a multi-layered rescue--a rescue for Jonah, a rescue for the people of Nineveh, and a rescue for you and I if we're willing to accept it.  It was obviously a rescue for Jonah since he went from being dead in a stormy, breathless sea to alive in the air pocket of a fish stomach.  It was a rescue for the people of Nineveh because God used Jonah's words to them later to bring repentance into their hearts instead of instant flames to their city and souls.  The appointed fish is a rescue for us if we hear in the story that running from God is fruitless and that no moment is too late to experience His saving grace.  It's furthermore a rescue for us if we hear Jesus' words in connection to this historical event: For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here (Matthew 12:40-41).  Do you hear the significance of the story in the words of the Savior of the world?  A rescuing fish was appointed ultimately to turn our attention to the saving power of Jesus who was "swallowed up" by the earth for the saving of the people above (like Jonah's crew) and then delivered out of it in life so that wicked "Ninevites" like you and I could hear the message of truth and turn to the Author of it.  Don't miss it.  The God motivated heart is the one that hears the message of the appointed fish and runs with humble joy to the One who appointed it.

God Motivation and the Double Rainbow Club

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47). 

"Sounds like a cult."  I've been trusting in Jesus for about 25 years, but there's a part of me, when I interact with this passage, that still responds in that way.  I think that part of the reason for such is that on the surface there are some similarities.  The early church was a tight-knit group, people were enamored with the things that the leaders were doing, they sold their stuff when joining in, it grew quickly, and the members drank some special punch underneath an amazing double rainbow.  OK, forget the last part.  But really, the similarities are there. 

Of course there are some differences too (even though I know we're dealing with stereotypes in doing a comparison/contrast).  Nobody in the church was claiming to be the messiah because many of them had seen theirs teach, do miracles, die, reappear in the flesh, and ascend to Heaven.  No one was getting rich off of the money that was going into the proceeds pot; the money was being distributed to the needy through the willful giving of the members.  The members still had houses (groups often met in them).  It didn't (and hasn't) come to some strange tragic end.  And God was receiving the praise from all the people equally, while the physically absent but spiritually present Jesus added new people to the group every day.

No, the church is not some double rainbow club.  In some ways though we probably look a little more like one now than they did back then.  Sometimes we're more fake today, huddling together on Sunday mornings barely knowing what we believe, building a kingdom here instead of storing up treasures in heaven through worshipful sacrificial living in rich, meaningful community.  We've lost much of our sense of awe and wonder over who God is and the grace He has given.  We're often more about self motivation than God motivation.  We're not going to be just like them in the way of ancient culture and apostle-based leadership, but we have the same Lord, we can grow in loving community, and we can show through our lives that eternity is bigger than now. 

God Motivation and Moaning Jonah

When God saw what [the Ninevites] did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (Jonah 3:10-4:2).  Hearing these words from Jonah makes me think of a limbo party: "How low can you go?  How low can you go?!"  Here he was at his destination after entering a battle with God that ended up putting him in the belly of a fish.  Here he was, finally "obeying" God by preaching to the city.  And then here he was enraged over the fact that God did something beautiful in his midst by saving the city from the destruction they were about to experience.

God taught me a bit this past weekend just how much I can be like Jonah.  We have more in common than I'd like to admit.  Now I haven't hopped on a ship to try and get away from God and I don't have any enemies like then Ninevites who were indeed ruthless people, those who would have normally enjoyed skewering someone like Jonah.  But I do think that he and I both have an issue with having an unbalanced amount of knowledge and love.  Jonah knew a boatload about God...not just about the things that God had done but about His character--His grace, mercy, patience, and love.  And I'm betting that on most days He really cherished these things and even praised God for them.  But this wasn't the story on the great day of Nineveh's repentance.  He was torqued off.  Why?  Because God was exercising those awesome character traits toward a group of people that were "way worse" than Jonah was.  These people did not deserve grace, mercy, patience, and love.  These people needed justice; these people needed hell.  God had gone too far.

There are way too many times in my life where I want to make sure that God deals out His hugs and spankings to the right people at the right times.  There are those that just drive me up the wall that I want to see feel God's disapproval so that they'll know better next time.  There are those that I even want to see restored but only after God has shown them how naughty they've been so that I won't have to be annoyed by their foolishness in days to come.  Like Jonah, there are days where I'd like to be God.  Like Jonah, there are a lot of days that my knowledge about God does not translate well into my knowing God personally, desiring to simply sit humbly before Him, delighting in His ways (whatever they might be).  There are days when I am sinful, moaning Jonah in need of God motivation for the day ahead.  God help me.

God Motivation and The New Dog

A senseless, a nameless brood,
        they have been whipped out of the land.
And now I have become their song;
        I am a byword to them.
(Job 30:8-9)
We humans can be pretty ruthless.  All of us have a desire to be at the top in some area of life; we want to be the smartest, the wisest, the strongest, the richest, the most composed, the best encourager, the most sought after counselor, the humblest, the meekest, the one whom no one could ever blame.  And some of those things are excellent qualities to desire.  But what we tend to be OK with is when someone who is a bit more (maybe a lot more) prominent in "our" dream place of status suddenly trips and falls or is in some way removed from that pedestal.  Job found this out.  Among men of his day, he was the best of the best in all the right ways.  We think of him as they guy covered in sores whose wife told him to die, whose friends were hardly friendly, and who seemed to have nothing to live for.  But before calamity struck, before the testing came, Job was the guy that everyone respected, that nobody interrupted, and that the needy would turn to.  He was the wealthy guy who used what he had to bless others and whose age didn't seem to matter when it came to people showing him respect.  You can read all about it in chapter 29 and infer it from the things God Himself says about him right at the beginning of the book.

But though none of the character qualities of Job changed when the life he knew came crashing down, he became the new stray dog in the land to kick and holler at when seen.  The prominent did this with their lofty words of "wisdom" and the nameless brood he mentions here did it through their senseless, scoffing drinking songs.  Job to them was probably a lot like a wrongly accused police officer thrown into prison with the criminals he helped put behind bars.  He had now entered their territory of lowlife land and would be kept at the bottom of the food chain if possible. 

We need to take great care that we don't become like virtually everyone in Job's life.  Instead of looking for opportunities to be raised up when others are brought low or to even look good in the sight of others for helping the fallen, we must seek the praise of the Lord alone.  We must be God motivated in our movements through life as the waves of circumstances raise us into view and perhaps bring others downward.  No matter how subtly or internally it might take place, we've got to guard ourselves from the temptation to lift high our eyes when another has been brought down a notch.