A Bad Trade

Scripture: "When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. Deut 18:9


Observation: When our need is great it is often quite easy to rely on God. When the pressure is off, however, it becomes easy to fall back into old habits or pick up some new ones. God knew this all to well and so here He issues a warning to the Israelites alerting them to what was to come. God does not come out of nowhere and sideswipe us. His warning long proceeds His action.

Application: "I swear, I will never do ____ again." How many times have I uttered that line? Or how about this one, "If you just get me out of ____ I am ready to live my life differently. I have learned my lesson." Statements like this are so promising. It feels good to say them. The euphoric sense of freedom and success is only sweetened when God seems to respond by allowing my life to find some relief. The first phase of this process is easy. The battle is raging and my only hope is to draw close to God. As I do, He moves closer to me and I draw upon His strength. I know that I am doing what I am doing only through Him. There is no way I can let up. I stick to my quiet time. My prayer time is so real. Overall my relationship with God is running like a well oiled machine. Then comes the second phase. The pressure lets up. I experience some degree of victory. Suddenly the desperation drops from my dependency on God. I stick with my quiet time and prayer life but the tone has shifted. Now I am grateful. I am really pleased by what God has done and I enjoy walking in His presence, not because I have to but because I want to. It is still a really sweet time. Then comes the third phase. I get bored. Everything in my life is manageable but I start to feel trapped. As I survey the scene around me, everyone else seems to be having way more fun than me. Vacations. New cars. Boats. Parties. The list of things that provide others joy is much longer than mine. I am tempted. Suddenly all the promises I made to God seem to be so very distant from me. I regret them. Before long I begin to desire things that I feel I am being denied. Then come the fourth and final phase. I walk away. It starts so simple. "I just won't read my Bible today" I think to myself. "I just don’t feel like getting up this morning" I say on another day. Before long, I am totally not seeking God anymore. In His absence, my flesh steps up and then it happens. All bets are off and I trade the peace of God for the pursuit of pleasure. I fall hard and the process starts over again. Why do I do this to myself? What is it in my nature that causes me to abuse and manipulate God in this manner?

Prayer: God you are so gracious to me. I truly regret all the empty promises. Not because I fear the consequences, but I am truly sorry for the hurt to our relationship this has caused. I live in a world that is full of tempting practices. At times the rhythm of life lulls me into a sense of complacency and I stop advancing my spiritual life. As soon as I do this, the patterns of the world become tempting. I pray today for the desire to draw close to You. I know myself. If I let up for even a second I will fall back into old patterns. I pray that You reveal the power of Your will to me. Psalm 34 challenges us to taste and see that You are good. Teach me what it means to taste of Your goodness everyday. Allow Your wisdom to go before me and make my path clear and Your Spirit inside me to guide my every decision. I truly desire to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them. I want to live in a constant state of alertness and awareness of Your great work that is going on around me. Keep me on the edge of my faith and may the desire to see Your Kingdom become my greatest desire.