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A page of encouraging thoughts ... ...usually changed every weekend if the blue screen of mystery has not afflicted our computer during the week!
From Bricks to Embroidery No one knows how long the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt before the famous Exodus. It could have been 200 years. It was at least 80. For years they had been making bricks for Pharaoh's great construction projects. Rough work. And rough work makes for rough hands. Then came freedom! God sent a deliverer, and Moses led them out. They walked to Mount Sinai, and God gave them his rules for a good life. One of the things he asked them to do was to make the tabernacle, a very special tent where his presence would travel with them.Here are a few details from the Bible description of the process:
It was less than a year since they had been making bricks! Now some of them were doing intricate weaving, carving and metal work. Working with costly and delicate materials they were producing marvelous tapestries, robes, curtains and fine gold and silver objects for God’s tent, the tabernacle. They were embroidering artistic designs of cherubim! This surprising little fact usually gets lost among all the spectacular miracles that were part of the Exodus from slavery. But just this year as I have been thinking about how career changes are increasingly needed in our society, it struck me. Their skin could have become a little softer naturally in the course of those first few weeks of travel, but think of the changes needed in brain and muscles, the development of fine motor skills required for this work! Think of the adjustment needed for a bricklayer to become an expert in making fine jewelry! God did many amazing great miracles in connection with the Exodus: dividing the Red Sea, keeping their clothes and even their shoes from wearing out, giving them their food from the sky, providing streams of water in the desert from a rock that moved around with them, and more. I think maybe he also threw in this small miracle of preparing their hands and eyes for the fine work of making the tabernacle. Anyway, it was an unusual and dramatic change. Can God be bothered to do small miracles? Will he take the trouble to help us adjust to changes in our lives? Yes! That’s something to cheer about!
The Bird Catcher’s Destiny A myth from India tells of a bird catcher who set out one morning with his bow and arrows, and his hawk on his wrist. After a long unsuccessful day, he finally heard some partridges in a bush. Determined not to go home empty handed, he sent his hawk into the sky to catch any that flew out. Then he set fire to the bush and stepped back with an arrow on his bow. As it happened, there was also a snake in the bush, and as the fire drove it out it bit the hunter on the foot. As he fell dying to the ground, his arrow shot upward from the bow and killed his hawk. Just then a storm broke and drenching raid put out the fire. The birds in the bush hardly knew there had been any danger. That’s Destiny. Most religions of India, like most pagan religions, teach that human events are controlled by some supernatural being or beings. In Isaiah’s day, many in Israel had adopted similar beliefs. Many were drawn into the cult of Gad and Meni, Babylonian gods whose names mean "Fortune," "Fate," or "Destiny." Food and drink were often set out for such false gods, and the people of Israel were joining in this foolishness. In contrast, the LORD tells his people to reject "fate;" to take responsibility for their actions, to choose right over wrong, life over death, blessing over cursing. Another word for destiny and fate is luck, and many even today believe in it. If you told them the Indian myth, they might laugh at the idea of a supernatural force at work. "Superstition!" they might say, and add: "It was just luck." And when God blesses you, they say "You were just lucky." But what is the real truth? The real truth is that you were blessed. The Bible tells us that absolutely everything good comes from God. That’s the way it is. When bad things happen, you may be sure that someone’s personal choices were behing them. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God makes this clear to the people of Israel at a time when they were heading for trouble:
Notice what he says about their choices! Our choices affect what happens to us. There is a broad road that leads to destruction, and there is a narrow road that leads to life. That’s what Jesus said, and he told us that the words he spoke he did not speak of himself; they came from the Father. The Greeks attributed ultimate power over "destiny" to "the three Fates." They said that no one could escape his fate. The Romans worshiped a goddess they named "Fortuna." Islam says that all things happen "as Allah wills." Well, that "Allah" is not the same as the Elohim of the Bible. The true God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and is seen and known through Jesus. The Bible gives us a better formula for being blessed than believing "what will be will be." Forget luck, destiny, fate, the stars, and Allah. The Bible says: "Keep yourselves in the love of God." From him all blessings flow, and he adds no sorrow with them. Solomon wrote:
Here are some other cheering Bible references relating to this theme: Jude 1:21, James 3:11, and specially Luke 6:43,44!
PLEASE NOTE: If you have questions about issues discussed here, or would like to get a copy of something you have seen here in the past, feel free to e-mail the pastor at donaldbarnhouse@gmail.com The material on this page is being collected in book form, and is protected by copyright. But feel free to share it with a few friends by e-mail if you care to. Please note the new e-mail address as of May 1, 2010! |