Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 20:3 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah,

There are armies from several nations massed and ready to attack. King Jehoshaphat was afraid. He was afraid of physical death. He was afraid that all his friends and family would be slaughtered.

Fear ruled.

So what did the King do. He proclaimed, “Everyone stop eating!”

Nuts. Right? Well, this wasn’t a diet plan. Stop eating and seek God. Stop considering all those things that we normally consider to be important. We have a real crisis on hand, so whether we wear the brown shoes or the black shoes to the office today doesn’t really matter. McDonald’s or Chick Fil A this morning doesn’t really matter.

Seek God. Now.

My life? No really big crisis in front of me, right? Then why do I seem to be able to find something to fret about?

Okay, smart guys, stop fretting. Seek God, now. Simple, yet difficult on some days.

2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

7 “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or before the large army that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 He has only human strength, but we have Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people relied on the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

This is a classic “pep talk” from the Old Testament. That is sort of a dismissive description, but it rings with some generations of Americans today.

The enemy—a real enemy that desires to kill me, my family, and my culture, not just one of those “enemies” in the culture or other wars we imagine today—is coming. The enemy has the numbers, the technology, and all the other advantages that gives them…well, they are going to win. They are going to kill us all and take anything they want.

The enemy, however, only has human strength; we have God.

Let’s stand back and cheer at the big picture. This is correct. We have God on our side. In the eternal scheme, we triumph through God.

Let’s close in and wince at the small picture. The enemy has it all and will do whatever they want if God allows it. God, in his big-picture perspective, may allow the expected.

Yikes. Come on God, give me a break. Don’t let Alzheimer’s, cancer, or cataracts ruin my temporary time here on earth. Do what you did here in this chapter of the Chronicles. Please. Pretty Please.

I am not God. Some days that is more difficult to admit than others. And that is why I pray daily, please help me in my unbelief.

Joshua 10:9-10 (New Living Translation)

9 Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. 10 The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah.

Joshua, as usual, was facing superior forces. No problem. God messed with the minds of the enemy. In this instance, God threw them into a panic: sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior. The superior forces fell into “wildly unthinking behavior.”

So that’s it, have them stop thinking.

God created us with minds and the ability to use them to think. As we see here, we can become a little twisted so that we stop thinking. A little fear. A little more fear. A little worry. A little more worry. Toss in a lack of sleep. Toss in some anxiety.

Sometimes people ask me about marriage and Christianity and other such grand topics. My advice? Sleep every night. Rest the mind. Everything else seems to go better thereafter. Panic? Stop. Breathe. Rest. Pray. Use the mind God has given us.

Luke 5:12-13 (New Living Translation)

12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

13 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Sometimes Jesus just didn’t know how to act.

Jesus failed at etiquette: the customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group.

You don’t touch people who have an advanced case of leprosy, and that is just what Jesus did in verse 13. What was wrong with Jesus? Didn’t he understand how to act? He didn’t behave in a customary manner.

Let’s make a list of things that are contrary to behaving in a customary manner:

• Go to a disaster area
• Help people you don’t know
• Talk to strangers
• Treat enemies with kindness

hmm…I could go on, but perhaps these make the point.

Yesterday, my wife and I saw a movie about Paul and Luke. Okay, a work of fiction, but it had a few good points. Luke, a physician, was thrown in a filthy dungeon and beaten. The jailer’s daughter was sick. Luke tended to the sick daughter. It is not customary manner to try to heal a person who beats you.

Yes, sometimes Christians just don’t know how to act.

John 6:2-5 (New English Translation)

2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. 3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside and sat down there with his disciples. 4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover was near.) 5 Then Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?”

Jesus is about to take five biscuits and two sardines and feed thousands of people.

Jesus and His followers at a lot of meals together. My guess is they skipped a lot of meals together because they didn’t have anything to eat on some days of there walking about the land.

The vast majority of the meals eaten and skipped were normal—not recorded anywhere. They merely ate a little food. Now and then, however, something amazing and miraculous happened—like this day with the boy and his lunch.

I believe this is like my life today. Sometimes a miracle happens, but sometimes not. I wish God would do the miracles on my schedule instead of His. Really, I do. Perhaps we all have this wish somewhere, sometimes. Then again, my wishes would probably make a big mess. Some care and oversight should be involved in miracles, and I don’t have those qualities often.

God, help me to accept that You are God and I am not. Help me to see and appreciate the miracles you perform everyday. Help me to point to them and show others how You live with us today and every day.

John 6:29 (New English Translation)

Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.”

Pretty simple. What does God require of me? Of each of us? Believe in the one whom He sent, i.e., believe that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of God sent to the world to take away my sins so that I can be in God’s presence.

Pretty simple.

Funny how God gave us the brains to twist this about and make it into something far more complicated.

1 Peter 2:11-12 (New Living Translation)

11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

Peter encourages us to live properly in this world—a temporary home for us as foreigners. Notice how Peter emphasizes that we live among unbelieving neighbors. Peter doesn’t write,

live separate and apart from unbelieving neighbors

Instead, we live among them. I can interpret the translation too literally, but I don’t think I am doing this here. We live among the world, right in the middle of it, with all these unbelieving persons. We don’t live in a hidden valley or on the other side of the mountain or in an underwater cave.

In all circumstances, even when it costs us our 401K plan, we will live honorably for the honor and glory of God. That may not be a lot of fun on some days, and that is why I continually pray…God, please help me in my unbelief.

Luke 4:5-1 (New Living Translation)

5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please.

Perhaps the devil is boasting out of his mind. Perhaps the devil is simply lying about what he has and what he can do.

Then again, let’s consider the possibility that the devil knows what he is saying. That means that the devil has authority over all the kingdoms of the world. Not a pleasant thought, but it may explain much of human history.

Many Christians in America today are lamenting that we have lost a Christian nation to the pagans. Perhaps we have a distorted view of American history and the history of our own lives. Has Christianity had authority over America? Let’s answer carefully when we recall the crimes committed by “our nation.”

I believe that Christians have always been strangers in a strange land. We have always been on the outside of culture. I believe the Bible teaches that to us, and a candid look at history tells us the same.

Not much fun. Not too optimistic. But that is politics. As a Christian, I can shake my head at such, but the ultimate optimism is in Jesus Christ. So perhaps I should be like Jesus in this passage and not desire the kingdoms of this world and instead, as verse 8 writes,

You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.

1 Kings 10:24 (New Living Translation)

23 So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 24 People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.

King Solomon was a pretty smart guy. Where did he get his “smarts?” God gave it to him. God gave Solomon so much smarts that people from every nation came to discuss matters with Solomon.

The world came to the righteous to learn.

Let’s consider that last sentence for a moment. The righteous weren’t ignorant bumpkins or fill-in-the-blank-with-any-derogatory-word-I-use-to-describe those who aren’t as smart as me.

That is how much of the world sees Christians today. Ignorant. Why do “they” see “us” that way? Do we give them cause? What is it in our lives that causes people to seek knowledge elsewhere?

Luke 1:17 (New Living Translation)

He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.

This verse is discussing the coming son of Zechariah, i.e., the man we commonly refer to as John the Baptist. John will be one of the more powerful persons in the history of the world.

How is John so powerful? Look at what he will be able to do. Focus on the last phrase.

John will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly. John will cause the rebellious to cease their rebellion against God. That, ladies and gentlemen, is power. Who cares about money, fame, political position, or anything else. The ability to change a person’s attitude to where they follow God.

That is power. That is something to seek in prayer.