Doing It God's Way

One of the common criticisms about religion is that it's too strict, that it's out of touch with how the modern world works, and that, in light of current technological advances and changes in social mores, these "rules" should be refined or even tossed out altogether. While there is something to be said for being sensitive to the changing times, I would argue that, while technology and the expansion of the rational mind certainly cause us to rethink the how, they have not yet displaced the why.

In short, doing (what the Bible says is) God's will may not be easy or even desired, but obedience (or at least striving for it) can save us a lot of unnecessary pain and help us to accept and embody changes for our ultimate good. For, the exhortations in the Bible are not for the sake of ritual or rigidity; they are designed to position us for growth and conscious spiritual evolution. With this in mind, let us consider the following contemplations.

I remember the early days of being a parent, when that inevitable day came where my child required discipline for misbehaving. I remember hearing the echo of my father's words to me on one fateful day: "This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you." Like all kids, I thought that that was, at minimum, untrue and unlikely. But, about 20 years later, as I contemplated disciplinary action for my own child, the clarity came suddenly, and I understood what he said to me all those years ago.

I used that understanding to establish a rule in the house: "Do what mommy and daddy says, or get a spanking, and still do what mommy and daddy says." In short, the embarrassment and pain is optional, but you will do what we say!

Certainly, this dynamic exists in the spiritual realm as well, with God as our Father. And God has established a certain order to the universe. Further, God has charged those who would follow the Way of Israel to abide by a more stringent code in order to be transformed along the Way into light bringers to the world. If we don't live in accordance with this code, lightning may not strike us down immediately; for we were given free will. However, we can rest assured that there will be some consequence; and depending on our willfulness in acting outside of the Law, it may be of a punitive nature.

We can avoid a lot of trouble in our lives if we would just be found doing it God's way.

The story of Jonah is poignant for this topic, for it shows us that even a prophet of God can be found doing things outside of what God desires. As holy and as set apart as a prophet may be, he/she is still a human being imbued with the faculty of free will. And, as we read, we see that Jonah, blatantly going in the opposite direction from where God wanted him, and further, going that way specifically to avoid the presence of God, was not struck down by lightning, was not struck with leprosy, etc. Jonah was able to buy a ticket, board the ship, and get comfortable and go to sleep. Jonah was still a prophet of God, albeit a disobedient one.

Given the history of Israel and Assyria (of which Nineveh was the capital), we certainly can understand why Jonah would resist a command to preach a message of redemption to such an oppressive people. But, if one claims to be a faithful servant of God, if one claims to trust in God and believe that God will not lead one astray, or that God will save, protect, and deliver the faithful, then what does that one say, or what does one reveal about one's self when one does not live according to what God has specified?

In those watershed moments in life, or even in everyday moments, we find ourselves at this very crossroads: we have our own agenda, our own desires, plans, and goals, and then there is what God has said. For the most part, we are good people (or at least striving to be good), but for all of our good intentions and noble spiritual aims, we all have our bad habits and negative tendencies. Some are known such that that people complain about it to us (or behind our back). Some are destructive behaviors that ruin our health, some are behaviors that have become compulsive or out of our control, some are behaviors that we hide and perform under the stigma of shame.

And then we have what God has prescribed. Micah 6:8 tells us,

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Jesus taught us in Matthew 22:

[37] ...Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

And every day, the opportunity presents itself to us; change and grow, or not, and remain stuck where we are. And, in fact, many people resist change, not because they don't know that it's right, or because they don't feel capable of that change. Many resist because they don't want to be alone, are ashamed of what we used to do/be and don't want to deal with being reminded of it by critics, don't want to be ostracized for daring to be different in a better way (because not everyone with whom we associate will welcome positive change).

While the spiritually paranoid heap guilt upon themselves, worrying about going to hell or otherwise being judged harshly in the afterlife, while the spiritual neophytes are always looking for the bolt of lightning to strike them down, while the insecure believer always worries about karma, we often find that resisting or avoiding change is its own punishment. Can you imagine someone walking down railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train, and having that person resist all efforts of those who shout for the person to get off the tracks?

Obviously bad habits, like smoking, impact our health in easily discernible ways. Drug additions, including alcoholism, also mess with our mental ability. Other missteps, like gossip, promiscuity, even a weak or non-existent prayer life, and not keeping the Sabbath¹ are less discernible on the physical level, but they carry their own consequences as well. And God will allow us to do what we want to do, even if we know better; but at some point, just like with Jonah, if God feels that we are worth redeeming, He will send a storm in our lives.

As we resist good and positive change in ourselves toward the ways of God, we doom ourselves to remain estranged from God. We can't get as close to Him as we might like. Sadly for most, we don't appreciate this as an undesirable thing until a storm comes.

In the throes of fear, pain, and discomfort, we wonder, "Where is the LORD?" "Why is He allowing this to happen to me?" In times of storm is when we seem to most clearly and acutely realize our need to be close(r) to God. In these moments, we find ourselves at a spiritual crossroads, and there is the choice before us: take UP the cross (God's vertical vs. our own horizontal). In desperation, we make grand promises and pledge pious gestures, but how often do we stick to them when the storm passes?

The irony of Jonah's story is that Jonah's detour made his message stronger! If he had hoped that, by avoiding the command, that the Assyrians would be doomed, it turns out that running was the worst thing he could have done. The Assyrians were idol worshippers, and the great fish was held in high esteem among their people. So, when Jonah emerged from the fish, his message carried the weight of being endorsed by "the great fish". In the end, Jonah did what God said, but only after losing money buying a ticket to Tarshish, enduring a storm at sea, and spending 3 days/nights in the belly of a fish.

In our lives, we face similar choices. We can do what God says, or we can get in trouble, and still do what God says. But as God said to Moses after the Israelites had rejected Him for the 10th time (Numbers 14):

[20] ...I have pardoned according to thy word:
[21] But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
[22] Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice;
[23] Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

Let us be found doing it God's way, for who knows what we're missing out on by refusing His invitations to choose life, so that we might live and have life more abundantly?

¹See Exodus 31:16-17.

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