It is not just 'full-speed ahead'

Maybe life is a little complicated for us right now - every day brings new reports of worsening pandemic, more loss of life, riots, disagreements, and the list goes on. Why would we ever want to leave the safety of our homes? We have all experienced those moments when the "mess" of our present "muddled circumstances" seems like more than enough to handle - then along comes someone telling us to get "deeper" into the "muddle"! I think we all probably might have responded similarly to the one who tells us to get ourselves into a deeper muddle - it probably went something like, "Are you nuts! Things are more than I can handle right here and you want me to do what?" Hey, this is not a new response! In fact, there is are tons of similar ones recorded in the Bible - I think God doesn't want us to think we are alone in this muddle!

But David's men said, "We live in fear of our lives right here in Judah. How can you think of going to Keilah in the thick of the Philistines?" So David went back to God in prayer. God said, "Get going. Head for Keilah. I'm placing the Philistines in your hands." (I Samuel 23:3-4 MSG)

David was the one asking for them to get "deeper into the muddle" - something he had done before, but now he was asking for his men to follow along. It should not go without note - the entire army of men responded back, "We live in fear of our lives RIGHT HERE!" If we just look at this portion of the passage, we might feel like David was an insensitive leader, or completely self-centered with motives that bordered on selfish or self-elevating. When we look a little deeper, here's what we find - David did not act alone in asking for them to join forces and fight! He consulted God first! He took what he knew to God - the Philistines were attacking the region of Keilah and raiding the fields of grain. He asked God what to do with what it was he knew about the circumstances at hand - "Should I go after these Philistines and teach them a lesson?" He received his confirmation before involving others in his plans - God said, "Go. Attack the Philistines and save Keilah."

We have all responded at one time or another with the admission of living in fear right here in the present muddle we are in. The things we face seem insurmountable to us - because we can only see our own mess and the impact it has on us. The impression we have of being "surrounded" on all sides can seem to overwhelm our faith at times. David was probably not immune to this same sort of 'woe is me' fear at times. He hid in caves, trying to escape the pursuing armies that sought him out. He escaped in the dead of night, to get a running start on his enemies so they might not catch up with him. He knew the wisdom of retreat and the value of the right time to attack. He also knew if God was for him, none could stand against him (and his armies)! We often don't realize the impact of our actions. David clearly did not move ahead of God's plans here. He FIRST consulted God - then he ENGAGED others in the plan. Whenever we do this the other way around, we are getting the cart before the horse - and we all know that doesn't work so well. I appreciate David's men because they were totally honest - admitting to living in fear right there where they were in Judah! In their present mess of trouble, they were fearful for their future state. They were surrounded on all sides - Judah was under siege. The enemy was unrelenting. I don't think there is anything wrong with their honesty because they were having a "faith-struggle". When we are honest about our struggle, our deliverance is made possible.

David knew their next move - but he had to help them overcome their present fear. He doesn't just plunge ahead. He regroups with God. Often the most telling thing we do with our fear is revealed in who we take it to! We have a tendency to take our fears to other men - those with similar fears. What does that do for us? If we were honest - we all just have one big pity-party with it! When we take those same fears to God, what does he do with them? He clarifies and confirms the steps we are to take! David received the confirmation from God - "I'm placing the Philistines in your hands". The first time around, God said to David, "Go. Attack the Philistines and save Keilah." This time around, he confirmed the victory! In feeling doubt, we might just shrink away or pull back. In finding faith, we plunge ahead. Whenever we find ourselves shrinking back, we need to admit how the enemy's attack (the muddled circumstances we are experiencing) is impacting us. When we "feel" surrounded and under siege, chances are our faith is taking the blunt of the blow! The only place to have our faith "settled" and "made sure" again is at the feet of Jesus. If we don't get it the first time, then we need to go back again and again until we do!

In the midst of the muddled circumstances, we are seldom alone - others are experiencing the "muddle" with us. There is great wisdom in walking with another through the mess of circumstances. We do better "in the muddle" when we have our flanks covered by other warriors. We need to be sure we have the right "order" to our battle march, thought. First - we seek God's plan. Then, we engage others! When we engage first, we are open to all kinds of "advice" which may not always be what God intends for the present battle. God's advice comes in the quiet place of prayer - his battle charge comes in the presence of others of like faith! The battle charge begins in the quiet of his confirming counsel! Just sayin!

A Tangled Mess

⁸ Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road.

(Proverbs 21:8)

"Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything."

(Colossians 2:8)

Big words and intellectual double-talk are merely a smoke-screen for people to attempt to dazzle us with their intelligence.  I have learned that "intelligence" really is not all that it is cracked up to be!  Sometimes, the big word and double-talk is just to give the "appearance" that the person actually knows the answer to something!  God doesn't need big words to speak to the hearts of mankind - in fact, he tells us that he uses the simple to confound the one who appears so wise.

A motive is really the goal or reason for a particular action.  We all have "motives".  In a cop show, they have to prove that the criminal had "means" and "motive" to commit the crime.  Without both, there is no conviction - they cannot convict because the evidence doesn't speak to either the motive or the means.  God doesn't look for us to have the means - he simply looks at the motives of our heart.  He wants us to recognize what it is that "puts us into action" in a certain direction.

Mixed motive twist life into tangles - can it be put any simpler?  When we have differing reasons for our actions - like when the mood strikes us one day, but it doesn't the next - we live a pretty complicated life.  Now you may say that you don't struggle with mixed motives, but let me challenge that theory!  Have you ever done something for someone in order to get them to do something for you?  If so, you have experienced mixed motives because you are "doing" the action with strings attached!

A tangle is a mass of confused pieces all meshed together without any real sense of order - it is a mess!  The biggest thing we need to realize about the power of our motives is the mess they can make of our lives when they are not correct.  They actually become something that hampers or obstructs growth.  Dad used to cut the bottom off the roots of a root-bound plant because they were so tangled.  When I asked why he did this, he reminded me that when they are so tangled, they cannot grow anymore.  The same is true in our lives - when our motives are mixed, we have difficulty with growth.

The writer of Colossians is believed to be the Apostle Paul.  Paul brings it all together for us in the passage above.  When we get caught up in the "empty" stuff, we just don't grow up as we should.  How do we know if our lives are being complicated (tangled) by the "empty stuff"?  Well, it is pretty apparent from the passage that if our attention is on making ourselves look good through empty traditions or big talk that is meant to impress, we are giving room to the "empty stuff" in our lives.  This might look like when we are attending church with nothing more than the attitude that we can check that "task" off the list for the week, or when we give a person on the street a five dollar bill without the benefit of really connecting with their need.

Paul tells us plain and simple - don't confuse all the religious hype and the big talk with being connected closely with your Lord.  This just makes a tangle of our lives!  Jesus is not understood through scholarly pursuits (although I do not discount formal learning about the scriptures), nor is he understood through the debate of his methods.  We often think that someone with all the book learning is someone to emulate - in contrast, we discount the wisdom of the one who has learned to live a truly "untangled" life!

There is much wisdom in getting to know Jesus - without all the hype, tradition, or double-talk.  When we connect with him, we understand the things that we could not see plainly before.  We call this revelation.  Jesus brings clarity to our motives - he exposes that we have the means to access him -  and he makes it clear who he really wants to be in our lives.  This type of revelation is like "cutting off the roots" of our tangled, "pot-bound" lives.  It actually serves to create growth, causing us to flourish.  

We are incapable of untangling our own lives.  We need the Lord to do that.  We need him to help us see the vanity and emptiness of all our double-talk.  We count on him to show us where our talk is masking over some action that is neither right, not good for our lives.  That is when we begin to experience growth.  That is when others begin to see the impact of living an untangled life.  Give him your tangled mess of a life and he will certainly do some "cutting" away of the tangle.  It may hurt now, but in just a short while, the growth will outweigh the temporary hurt of that "untangling" process.