For the past 6 weeks God has been challenging me with this thought, what idols are you placing before me? Not a single day goes by when God does not show me the things in my life that I place above him, things I never even realised we're idols.
When we first moved to Wales I didn't understand why God was taking so many things away from me that I felt I needed. I realised that I needed to realise my need for them to understand that they we're idols. Money, comfort, friends, family, luxury, gossip, the list is endless.
Money for me has been an idol forever. There was no doubt then that once God had revealed this, he would test me,
Do you really trust my provision??
What I love about God is that our faithlessness does not render him faithless. He is faithful to fulfil his promises. God promised provision so God WILL provide despite my doubts and tantrums. A few weeks ago I was really struggling to sacrifice this idol and trust him. Cue the many tears and dramatics. Went for a walk and when I came home there was an envelope of money on my doorstep. A few days later I got a call saying someone felt led to buy food for us, I'm talking a full weekly big shop, flippin beaut. So everyday he puts me to the test, but whether I fail or succeed, he remains faithful to his promise. I will provide. Will you trust me?
This week God has been teaching me a lot about faith. The entire story of the bible is about a faithless people redeemed by a faithful God. Adam and Eve KNEW God, they walked with God and shared an intimacy with him that we will not experience until we meet him face to face. But they were unfaithful, they traded the truth for a lie and worshipped created things rather than the creator. Faithless.
Therefore God called Abraham to be the Father of a nation that would KNOW God. God promised that at 90 years old Sarah would have a child. Sarah's response? She laughed (Genesis 18v15). Sarah and Abraham doubted God to the point that Abraham had a child with another women believing that in his human ability he had the power to fulfil the promise of God. Faithlessness. God continued this promise through barren women- Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah. This stands as an illustration that God's promises can NEVER be achieved by our ability, but through HIS power. The power that allows 90 year old women, barren women, and then a virgin to have a child. It is God who fulfils the promise.
"By FAITH abraham, even though he was past age- and Sarah herself was barren- was enabled to become a father BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED HIM FAITHFUL WHO HAD MADE THE PROMISE." (Hebrews 11v11)
So back to the story. God promises that all nations will be blessed through Abraham and although God delivers this people from slavery, parts an ocean for them, feeds them from heaven, appears to them as fire on a mountain, and even through they hear his very voice, they decide instead that it makes sense to worship a statue of an animal they made with their own hands. Faithlessness. It is so easy to read this and get frustrated at these people, but these people are us. Every day we chose to worship created things rather than the creator. Their faithlessness is our faithlessness.
"My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill. He plowed the land, cleared the stones and planted the best vines. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes were bitter. What more could I have done for my vineyard that I had not already done? Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed...The nation of Israel is the vineyard. He expected a crop of justice but instead found oppression. He expected to find righteousness but instead heard cries of violence. (Isaiah 5v1-8)
Here Israel is the vine, we are the vine. But we are incapable of faithfulness. So what can we do it be reconciled to God?
Jesus says, "I am the TRUE VINE." (John 15v1)
The only one that has ever been faithful to the very end, to death, is Jesus. By trusting in Jesus, his faithfulness becomes ours. We are no longer that unfaithful wife but his faithful bride. Jesus' close relationship with sinners is a picture of the reconciliation, the restoration of an intimate relationship between a faithless nation and a faithful God.
The true and final fulfilment of the promise God made to Abraham is fulfilled through Christ. The promise of a land filled with rest and hope, a place without pain and suffering, a place where we truly know God. Is this not the picture painted in Revelation?
"Look God's home is now among HIS people! He will live with them, and they will be HIS people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." (Rev21v3-5)
No comments:
Post a Comment