Leaning

In western thought, we are all caught up in things like "moral equivalency," "humanistic logic" and "informed social behavior."  All of these are being thrown up in the face of the world as protestors rationalize their support for Hamas, bad actors use misinformation to feed falsehoods to people/media and our enlightenment clouds our ability to think in the spiritual realm.  We are headstrong and heartless as our reliance on information (often very biased from the informer) trumps our reliance on God.  Paul said it this way ... "God chose the things this world considers foolish in order to shame those who consider themselves wise.  He chose the things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.  God chose things despised by this world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important (1 Corinthians 1:27-28)."  We see this played out on the world stage as people who demand and support rights for LGBTQ+ march in support of Hamas who hates, suppresses and even murders LGBTQ+ people.  We see people who support the plight of the Palestinians while ignoring the history of terrorist and militant groups marginalizing and oppressing the Palestinians.  All the while, many are believing the "information" published by a group whose name means "violence."  It truly is foolishness as we, the western world, believe our "information" is superior to the information offered by groups we have categorized as outdated (like Christians and traditionalists).

As I write this, I hear our church bells playing A Mighty Fortress is Our God, and I can't help but think of the verse, "And though the world with devils filled, will threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God hath willed, His truth to triumph through us!"  How can this happen as the "devils" of war, hatred and falseness seem to have the upper hand?  The song gives us a bit of help here!

1. Accept God's new heart and suppress reliance on our wisdom - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6)."  Give your heart to God.  You remember?  That new heart from Ezekiel 36:26. That heart comes with a renewed and "right" spirit, and that heart from God will lead our heads to a proper understanding.  Do you want a straight and correct path?  Then place the heart God gave you into the trusted and good care of God.  He will not fail you.  Remember, we are not that smart, and our choices have brought us into this mess!

2. Accept God's truth over the attraction and emotion of the world's hype -  As we revel in our intelligence and correctness, we invest our attention and emotion into lots of false hype.  We are blown this way and that way, and we end up asking the question Pilate asked Jesus as Pilate stood in judgment of Christ ... "What is truth (John 18:38)?" We have the same question today as we flip channels on TV.  Is Hamas a terrorist group?  Can our government be trusted? Should I get the new COVID booster?  Are the Dallas Cowboys worthy of 90% of the coverage on sports TV this morning?  What is truth?  The Bible (and the song) respond to this question.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan, and His emotions and physical weakness were pulling Him toward worldly logic, Jesus responded ... "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)."  His head and physical needs (and Satan) said, "Turn the stones into bread."  His Father's guidance said, "Never listen to Satan ... he is the author of lies."  God's truth triumphed through Jesus, and it can with us too!

We can't trust the worldly heart that lives by human logic.  We can't truth our human wisdom, that is often based on the hype and input from unreliable sources.  But we can trust God's word and the "new heart and right spirit" He gave us when we first brought us from death to life.  We can lean on Jesus and we can count on His word!  Randy