The story of Moses and Israel’s journey together can be found in the Bible’s
books of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers. Many people are familiar
with Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. Not as many are familiar with the fact that,
according to the story, the people who experienced all those amazing acts of God
in Egypt were not allowed into the Promised Land. this included regular,
everyday Jewish folk, Levites in charge of keeping the Tabernacle operations,
and even Moses himself.
We live in a time when the popular theology being communicated by some of the
US’ most popular TV preachers doesn’t have much room for that part of the
story. A teaching heard recently by one such preacher promised his audience
that if they did the right thing, God would get them a job promotion that would
shame their critics. He used the story of Esther to support the promise. Of
course, people want to believe this. We want it to be that simple. But
Pastor Jolly Ovaltine, in various interviews, has made it clear that he doesn’t
feel that God has called him to deal with those discrepancies – he is called
only to talk about the good, fluffy stuff. Good for him. Really good for him,
since it sells millions of books and packs stadiums with folks who want it to be
just that simple.
Good news for Jolly: there’s no money-back-guarantee for his books, and if
things don’t work out the way he promised, it is surely due to someone’s lack of
faith somewhere. Bad theology is never to blame for false hope.
Moses was, according to the author of Numbers, the most humble man on the
planet. And then he blew his top (Numbers 20:1-13). he was probably over 100
years old. He had listened to complaints from Israelites for decades. They
lamented once again, and Moses let them have a piece of his mind. In the
process, however, he also disobeyed God, and attempted to play God during his
tirade. This was enough to disqualify him from receiving the dream. Of course,
this kind of behavior doesn’t just happen – there is backstory for sure, just as
there is for us when we do similarly stupid things we regret. And, like Moses,
we also realize after awhile that while God may forgive us for our poor attitude
and/or behavior, the consequences still remain. Broken relationships are the
usual toll. Some heal up pretty quickly, others never do. This is reality.
Jolly Ovaltine’s theology doesn’t fit so well. It’s not always going to be a
happy ending in this life. This, again, forces us to consider what we believe,
what we pray for, why we continue to have faith. These are questions the
Israelites struggled with throughout their history.
What do you think? Is God worth believing in? Is faith worth the effort if
we don’t get the promotion, or the clean bill of health, or healthy children,
or… What does God do in the midst of our struggle, pain, failure, etc.?
I believe God still enters into the human experience. I believe God still
acts. I believe God still breaks in. I believe with Jesus’ brother James that
prayer is powerful and effective. And I believe that failed dreams, dashed
hopes, disappointment and struggle are all parts of a normal life that do not
rob God of any of God’s “Godness”. So I look for God to meet me in the midst of
struggle rather than seeing the struggle as a sign of the absence of God. I
look to God for strength, healing, direction for myself and everybody else.
This makes me a better person. It shifts my expectations. It gives me peace
when I shouldn’t be feeling peace. It keeps God close instead of at arm’s
length.
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