FMF: Right

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.... If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it" (Exodus 23:2,5, NIV).

This once wild horse lives with other state rescued
animals (including donkeys). Learn more HERE.

At nearly forty years old I still get confused about what is right and wrong.  That feels silly to write because, of course, I know what most would consider right or wrong.  It's wrong to murder, obviously.  Almost everyone agrees on this; and it's what's known as mala in se, a crime that is wrong in and of itself.  It is universally wrong.

But what God has asked His believers to do is not universally accepted as right behavior.  Exodus 25 challenges some preconceived notions about what is right.  If I see someone who hates me, I must still help them.  It reminds me of Proverbs 25:21-22 which tells me to feed my hungry enemy and, by doing so, I will heap burning coals on his head.  Apparently, God likes that.  That verse always confused me.  Is it revenge generosity?

In part, I get confused about right and wrong because of verses like Romans 12:2.  If God has a good and perfect will for my life, there are a lot of ways I can go wrong.  That scares the perfectionist in me.

I feel a little lost today.  I want to do right, and yet it proves to be harder with each passing day.  I pray that God gives me wisdom as I continue to seek Him in all my decisions.

And I pray I can lift up someone's donkey today.

This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.

Psalm 7

Tag.  It's one of the most popular games of childhood.  It can be traced back at least 150 years, but it's origins may go much farther back.  It's popularity persists because of it's simplicity: no equipment is needed, and there are hundreds of variations to suit players' preferences.  One basic variation is to create a place that is “safe.” For those of us who tire easily, this place of rest is a must for any game.

If only life were as simple as a game of Tag.  We know it's not, but when I read Psalm 7 I couldn't help but think of life as a game of Tag.  David wrote:

Lord my God, I go to you for safety.

Help me. Save me from all those who are chasing me.
(Psalm 7:1, NIRV) 

David had a lot of enemies.  Remember when David encountered Saul in the cave?  If you don't, you can read it here: 1 Samuel 24.  I see David holding up that piece of Saul's robe as if to say, "I could have tagged you, but I chose not to." David wasn't always this victorious.  He had his share hard times, but David knew that only God could keep him safe. Just like when we play Tag, sometimes life has us running around a lot. It’s hard, and it makes us tired.  We want a safe place to rest. God was that safe place for David. David didn't take advantage of God's protection of him.  Even though God helped David, he still tried to do what God wanted him to do. In fact, in verse 5 David said that if he had done anything bad to his friends it would be ok for his enemies to chase and catch him.

David did not like when people did bad things. For all of David's flaws (and there were plenty), David was called "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14).  David desired for all people to do what was right in God's eyes, and he thought that people who tried to do wrong to others would be caught in their own tricks. I love this imagery of a person digging a hole and then falling into it: 

Whoever is full of evil

plans trouble and ends up telling lies. 

Whoever digs a hole and shovels it out

falls into the pit they have made.
The trouble they cause comes back on them.

The terrible things they do will happen to them.
(Psalm 7:14-16, NIRV).

Instead of making trouble, David wanted to be like God. The Bible tells us a lot of things about God: God is love, God is kind, and God is fair. We should also try to have these qualities as a way of showing our love to God. David finishes this psalm like this: 

I will give thanks to the Lord because he does what is right.

I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. 

(Psalm 7:17, NIRV)

God always does what is right. Like David, we can put our hope in God and rest when we are near Him even if we are flawed.  Through Christ, we can be forgiven of our wrong doings and enter God's rest.

For more thoughts on hope, I encourage you to read this recent post: Psalm 5.

Year Four

And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

(Luke 4:28-29, NASB)

Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
(John 10:39, NIV)

Jesus‘ ministry was only three years long.  They were years filled with crowds, chaos, and capture attempts.  There was controversy, conflict, and betrayal.  By today's standards, Jesus was chronically homeless. He paid his taxes from money found in a fish.  He was not understood by the religious elite, and He was rejected in his hometown.  His years of ministry were concluded by the events of Gethsemane, loneliness, and ultimately crucifixion. If the story stopped there, Jesus' ministry would be considered a total failure.  But we know the story doesn't end in year three.  Instead year four - and all of the years after it - are marked with resurrection.

Many of us are living in year three.  Things seem to be going from bad to worse.  Our friends feel distant.  Authorities are working against us.  Our prayers are being answered in ways that break our heart.  We are asking ourselves what could possibly happen next.

Resurrection.

Resurrection could happen next.

FMF: Progress

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:15-16, NIV)

Current Bible Study:
The Weekly Faith Project.

Paul certainly as a lot of applicable advice for those he wrote to, and sometimes I miss the forest for the trees.  In Paul's first letter to Timothy, he encourages Timothy to be "diligent" in growing the spiritual gifts he's been given "so that everyone may see [his] progress."

I usually think about progress as something for myself.  I want to better myself.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Here, Paul affirms - once again - that we are not meant to live our our faith in solitude.  Our faith encourages the faith of others, and their faith encourages us.

I attend a weekly Bible study for women.  For the past thirteen weeks we've been talking about faith.  Who knew there was so much to study on faith!  After three months we are just finishing what faith IS, and we are beginning to study what faith DOES.

Faith makes progress.

Faith should never be happy with its current standing but always works hard to better the believer and those around the believer.  It changes the importance of my faith to think that my decisions impact more than just me.  When I lack the desire to do what is right, thinking of someone else may give me strength.


This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.

Psalm 5

What do you hope for?  During my life, my hopes have changed according to the desires of my heart.  In high school my hopes often revolved around boys, especially that I might be asked to a dance or other similar event.  In my young adulthood my hopes were often focused on employment, that I would get a raise or that I'd have certain perks from my work. These days my hopes are a little less tangible: I hope my kids are growing in maturity, that my husband and I grow continually closer to each other, and that my friends are well. None of these hope are intrinsically bad, but as I studied Psalm 5, I began to see how much I have misunderstood the biblical concept of hope:

Lord, listen to my words. 

Pay attention when I mourn.
My King and my God,
hear me when I cry for help. I pray to you.
Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I pray to you.
I wait for you in hope. 

(Psalm 5:1-3, NIRV)

Usually when I say hope, I mean that I am wishing for something to happen.  In Psalm 5:3, the word translated as "hope" is "tsaphah" which means "to look out or about, spy, keep watch."  Yes, hope is something much deeper than wanting something.  It is a trust something is going to happen. David  knew God was going to answer his prayers because he trusted God. “I wait for you in hope” really means that David is watching for something he knows is going to happen.   

When we plan to have visitors at our home, I sometimes find myself passing repeated by the front window of our home, waiting to see their car pull up. I know my friends are coming; I’m just not sure exactly when. That is the kind of hope that David had. He knew that God would answer his prayers, but he didn’t know when or how. As long as I'm being honest, I'll admit that my hopes don't always revolve around God.  I don't eagerly stand at the window of my life and watch for God's appearance.  How different my life would be if I started each day watching for God!