Our Story

How should we look at life? I am convinced that are our life is a tale composed and executed by God. Also, that it is part of a larger cosmic tale, a tale that those who trust in Christ have been given an overview of in Scripture. Our story is woven into the larger story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. But there are other ways to view life. We can see it as a grand resort hotel, where we expect all our needs to be met and if they are not, we complain to the management. Or we can see it as a prison, some place where we are trapped and must wait with fortitude and clinched jaw until someday we are released. It can be regarded as an endless treadmill of meaningless tasks that we do because it is what is required of us. And how we see life will affect how we live it. Scripture tells us that God is in control of the world, working all things according to the council of His will (Ephesians 1:11). It also says God is in control of our individual lives, working all things together for good (Romans 8:28). All this is so that He can carry out His purpose in our lives (Ephesians 2:10). But in order for us to properly carry out His purpose in our lives, we need the assistance of the Author.   

Jesus said that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). But He, through His Spirit, is at work in our lives to transform us and accomplish His purposes in the world (2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 2:13; Colossians 1:29). Therefore, we must trust in Him to accomplish this (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 127:1,2; 2 Corinthians 3:5,6). To do this He assists us in our prayer (Romans 8:26,27), bestows on us gifts to enable us to carry out His ministry (Romans 12:3-8), and brings us through our difficulties to ultimate victory (2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:37). But this does not mean it will always be easy. Rather, we are told to expect problems (John 16:33; Acts 14:22). But these sufferings are put in perspective by what we know of the end of the story (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17,18; Revelation 21:4). But it comes back to, how do we view life? If we see it as a resort hotel, then even relatively minor problems can be devastating. If we see it as a dungeon, they become one more torture to make us grit our teeth and try to endure it. If life is a treadmill, then they become a huge weight, liable to make us stumble and fall off the machine. But if life is a story, these difficulties become one more challenge to overcome on our journey through life to our final destination. And we know how the story ends. How do you view life?

Blind Spots

All of us have blind spots. And even those who honestly try to follow God can fall into them. Jehoshaphat was a good king (2 Chronicles 17:3-6; 19:3; 1 Kings 22:43). He sent officials to  teach the people the Law of God and judge disputes (2 Chronicles 17:7-9; 19:4-11). He trusted God in times of trouble (2 Chronicles 20:5-25; 18:31; 2 Kings 3:11-20). But he allied with King Ahab, and he married his son to Ahab’s and Jezebel’s daughter (2 Chronicles 18:1; 19:2; 1 Kings 22:44). He joined Ahab and his sons in many questionable ventures (2 Chronicles 18:2,3; 20:35-37; 2 Kings 3:7). This resulted in great evil for the kingdom of Judah (2 Chronicles 21:4-7; 22:1-4; 2 Kings 11:1-3). How then do we avoid our blind spots?

We need to be humble enough to recognize we are vulnerable and need God to reveal our weak points to us (1 Corinthians 10:12-14; Psalms 19:12-14; 1 Timothy 6:11). We must remember that we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 4:4,5; Philippians 3:9), and although God is at work in us (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13), we still have a long way to go in becoming the people God wants us to be (Philippians 3:12-16; Romans 7:14-18; Galatians 5:17). I am convinced that one of the great dangers for a Christian is believing we have it all together, which leaves us open to be blindsided. Pride and self-righteousness can easily set us up for a fall (Proverbs 16:18; 1 Peter 5:5-10; James 4:6-10).

It is easy to become conformed to the world’s standards and to let them determine our behavior (Romans 12:1,2; 1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4). This can often result in our doing the wrong thing from good intentions, because we have adopted a worldly standard of values. We are constantly bombarded with the world’s messages. And we do not want to totally withdraw, for we want to be able to reach others for Christ (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Matthew 9:10-13; Luke 19:1-10). But it is difficult to associate with people and not fall into their point of view (1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Colossians 2:8). This was the problem that resulted in Jehoshaphat’s family; by marrying into Ahab and Jezebel’s family, they fell into their mindset. But I wonder if one of the things that caused this in the first place was picking up the world’s idea of what was a good political alliance. We do not know what Jehoshaphat’ s motive was, but it is easy to become confused and see the wrong move as a good idea. To avoid this we need to be grounded in God’s Word (Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16,17). We also need to be in fellowship with other Christians who can steer us back to the right path when we get off it (Hebrews 10:24.25; 12:12-13; Proverbs 27:17).  For all of us are sinners, and we need ways to continually correct our blind spots.

Genuine Repentance

What constitutes genuine repentance? King David and King Saul both committed sins. David‘s were the more serious, adultery and murder. But God rejected Saul’s repentance (1 Samuel 15:20-31) and accepted the repentance of David, though there were consequences (2 Samuel 12:13-15). Why? Now God knows the heart and can see things we cannot. But can we tell why there was a difference?

Saul made excuses. We see this also at the time of his earlier sin (1 Samuel 13:10-14). He followed the procedure that goes all the way back to the Garden, of passing the buck (Genesis 3:8-13). More than that, he was more worried about what the people thought than what God thought (Galatians 1:10; Proverbs 29:25; 1 John 2:15-17). We see this in his pleading with Samuel to honor him before the people. Blaming his sin on the people. Panicking and offering the sacrifice because the people were deserting him. And later on he tried to kill David because the people liked him better (1 Samuel 18:6-11). He saw God as a means to the end of having the people honor him. But the bottom line was, he did not trust God. When the people were deserting him, he offered the sacrifice for fear of losing his army. But God later showed He could bring about victory with only a few (1 Samuel 14:1-23). Because of this, Saul was unwilling to obey God by killing all the Amalekites. Therefore, though Saul went through the motions of repentance, his repentance was a sham. He was more concerned with his image than with being right with God. But if we look at David’s confession (Psalms 51), we see a man who wants to be right with God. He admits his sin and does not try to come up with a multitude of excuses. David, for all his failings, sought God’s approval; Saul sought people’s approval and saw God as a means to that end.

In 2 Corinthians 7:10 it speaks of two kinds of sorrow for sin. One brings a person to God to repent. It leads to being without regret, not that you do not wish you had not sinned, but you put it behind you and go on (Philippians 3:12). This is ultimately based on the forgiveness God offers at the cross through faith in Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 4;4,5; Philippians 3:9). The other pushes you from God to hide from Him and ultimately on some level produces death. This is shown in the lives of two other men. Peter denied Christ but repented (Matthew 26:69-75) and ultimately became a mighty preacher in God’s service (Acts 2:14). Judas betrayed Christ and later regretted it and went out and hung himself (Matthew 27:1-10). So when we sin we need to be willing to come to God and honestly admit our sins, trusting in Him to forgive us (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; Psalms 32:5). And not just do it for show.