My Way vs. God's Way

You know the song "I Did It My Way?" (I think it's a Sinatra ditty.) That is like the perfect description of the human condition. We all wanna do it "our way."

I just finished reading Genesis 16-20, more of the Abraham saga. First we see the birth of Ishmael, where neither Sarai nor Abram could wait for God to work...so they got descendents "their own way" thru Sarai's maid Hagar. Dumb choice, by the way, as Ishmael's descendents became Muslims. This "my way" choice started a battle that the world is still waging. God's way would've worked much better.

Then the section ends with Abraham and Sarah visiting a foreign kingdom. Abraham thinks everyone will want his wife, so he says she's his sister so that he doesn't get killed. Why? Don't think God will protect you?

God is reminding me all the times I try to do things "my way." Even this week He and I have been talking A LOT about how I think something should be done and the way it looks like He's going to do it instead. I know in my head that God's way is always best. I mean, I KNOW THAT. But it can be hard to get psyched up for it when I think I see a better way.

Lord, Help me find a way to have full confidence--of heart and head--in Your ways. May I be as excited about them as I am about my own ways. Forgive me my stupidity and help me to submit to your ways before I do something that will have everlasting negative effects.

What about you? How do you handle the difference between your way and God's way?

"Give and Take" with God

Abraham amazes me! It's no wonder God chose this guy to begin His covenant with. I just finished reading Genesis 12 where God tells Abram to leave his homeland and travel to a strange place yet to be identified. When they get to Canaan, God says, "To your descendants I will give this land." (Not you, Abram, but your kids/grandkids will inherit this place.) Abram builds an altar and worships God...and then he moves on. (Gen 12:7-9) Amazing! God shows him some awesome real estate, and then sends him somewhere else. "This will be yours...but not now." How do you let go of that kind of thing so easily? And then I think of the story of Abraham and Isaac on the mountainside--a story I'll read later this week--and I see God doing this kind of thing again in Abraham's life. Here's the son you've waited 100 years for...now give him up. Abraham amazes me!

But then I think of the times God has done the same thing in my life. "I promise you this, Karin...but not now." Like Abraham, most of mine seem to involve my family as well. The seven year old in me wants to scream, "No take-backs!" I mean, if God promises us something, shouldn't we get to receive it--to enjoy it even?! But God always knows best. There's never been a time when I've looked over my shoulder at my past and said, "No God, it would've been better if you'd done it my way." It's funny, because I complain about not knowing enough of God's plan in advance, but when He does give me a sneak-peek into the future, I get upset that the future is taking too long to arrive. (There's just no pleasing me! :)

How about you? Has God ever made you a promise only to make you wait for it? Has He given you something and then taken it away for awhile? What have you learned from those experiences?

Technology: the Downfall of Humanity?

Genesis 11: It all started with bricks. Gensis 11:3-4 says, "Then they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and back them thoroughly.' They had brick for stone, and they had aspahalt form ortar. And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens;" If you know the story, you know that the Tower of Babel came next. And as a result of man's attitude and actions, God "confused the language of all the earth; and from there scattered them over teh face of all the earth." (11:9)

I studied this passage, tracing the events backwards, and I wondered if anyone at that time sat and blamed it on those silly bricks. "If only they hadn't invented those 'brick' things. That's what happens when you try to do something new--you mess up what you've got. The bricks are to blame for the evil and difficulty we have now!" It sounds so foolish. We know that the consequences of God had nothing to do with the makeshift stones. It was a response to the attitude within the hearts of the bricklayers. And yet we do that all the time--blame our own circumstances on the "evolution" of the world around us.

We blame television and movies for the corruption in our kids. We blame computers for our laziness and lack of real relationships. How many times have you heard someone go on about the "state of the world today" and lay the burden of responsibility on the latest advancement? Lemme tell you friends, God makes it clear that THINGS have nothing to do with the circumstances of our lives. God does not respond to the THINGS in our lives. He responds to our lives. Our Creator know that laziness is not born of the internet, but of our own hardened hearts. He sees the corruption inside us and knows it grows from our own sinful nature. We need to stop blaming the world around us for the sin we see and recognize that it comes solely from within.

That's the moment we turn our hearts--heavy, dark, lazy, corrupt, etc--over to an ever-loving, ever-forgiving God who wil take it and make it new again. God is the source of life and love. Because that is His nature, He can use the THINGS in our lives to do beautiful things. We see that when our hearts are beautiful in Him as well.

The Love of God...

Too often we think of God as the mighty arm of doom stretching out from heaven and pounding down on the sinners of the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Genesis 1 reminds us that when God created us, He created us in His own image. We are a reflection of the Creator. That is the first indication of His amazing love. He designed us to be like Himself, like new parents know their child will carry family resemblances. God loved us enough to create us.

In Genesis 3 and 4, we see two more examples of His never-ending love. The first is the great tragedy, the fall of mankind. When God's precious children chose their own independence over their obedience to Him, to the Father, God still showed His love. That would have been the easiest starting-over point, and yet He couldn't or wouldn't bring Himself to wipe out His beloved children. He loved them more than their disobedience. In the next chapter, we see the first example of homicide. How horrible! One human taking the precious life of another, and in the case one brother (Cain) taking another's (Abel). If God wasn't hurt by His children's disobedience, certainly this caused Him pain. And yet He chose not only to allow Cain to live, He protected him.

From the beginning God has shown His love for His children. We question and we doubt He could truly love ignorant misfits like us. We can't fathom that a perfect and holy Creator would care so much for creations that rebel so often. But God shows us that from the very beginning He chooses to love those He creates, even within their sin. That does not give us license to do whatever we want. In fact, it doesn't tell us anything about ouselves at all. It shows us only how perfect God's love is for us...His never-ending love.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Harvest Community Church blog! We are joining together to share our insights, inspirations, and instructions from God as we spend time with Him through His Word. This is not about a particular study or assignment. It is not about duty. It is about treasuring our relationship with our Creator and Savior and pondering the moments spent with Him. Please join us by sharing your own special moments with God!