Potholes
Today is a happy day for my town. One of the busiest shopping and dining centers in town is getting a refreshed look. For months (maybe years) consumers have been putting up with potholes all throughout the lot. One resident in town said, "It's like driving on the moon." People, including myself, have expressed our dissatisfaction. We have lobbied for repairs. And now we are finally getting a fully repaved lot. Not just patches - a brand new parking lot.
It's a happy day. Or at least, it should be...
I shared the news of the repairs on our town social media page. Many people rejoiced and commented, "It's about time!" One person even called out the owners by name that they finally coughed up the money to repave the lot. But there were several comments that weren't filled with joy. "It will still be impossible to find parking," commented one person. Another said, "They should be doing these repairs at night, not during business hours." And at last someone else shared, "Can they also take out the cobblestone? The lot is terrible."
Even though a major problem is being fixed, people are still complaining. If it's not one thing, it's another. This makes me think back to how God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt but continued to moan and groan about their situation.
The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (Exodus 16:3)
Here's some context: The Hebrew people were enslaved by the Egyptians, forced into labor, whipped, oppressed, and shackled. The LORD heard their cries and sent Moses and Aaron to beseech pharaoh for their freedom. Long story short, the LORD rescued them from slavery and destroyed pharaoh's army in a mighty miracle that many of us know as the parting of the Red Sea.
But now, the Israelites were wandering in a desert searching for a new home. God had just demonstrated His faithfulness to them and despite the goodness and grace they just witnessed with their own eyes, many of them began to quarrel against Moses and Aaron. They complained about not having enough food, water, and eventually they would cower in fear because they didn't believe they could defeat the people occupying the land God had set aside for them.
After all God did for them, they still complained. God didn't ignore their complaints. He fed them. He gave them water. God is a provider. But they continued to complain, lose faith, and ultimately they would rebel. Even after Joshua (Moses' successor) led them to victory over the Canaanites (so they could claim Israel), their hearts grew wicked and they sought to serve other gods.
I don't know about you, but if I saw a miracle like the parting of the Red Sea, I would HOPE that my faith would be unshakeable. These are men, women and children that time after time continued to realize God's grace and goodness. Yet, they remained ungrateful and rebellious. But they are not alone. They are us.
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts. (Isaiah 65:2)
It is our nature as sinners to be rebellious - to forget and ignore what God has done for us, to act in unrighteousness, ungratefulness, and disobey His commandments. We call evil good and good evil. But God continues to love us when we don't deserve it. When we complain, He provides. When we cry out in fear, He comforts. When we hate Him, He chooses to die for us.
Who put the sun in the sky? Who set the earth in motion? Science explains the mechanics of such things, but science could never facilitate the sophistication of God's design and creation. It was the Living God who breathed life into your body and mine. He was there for you and I when we didn't even know Him. He says in the Word that He knew us before we were in the womb, from a beginning we cannot even comprehend. My friend, you may not know Him today, but He is still there for you with arms outstretched, patiently waiting for you to come back to Him.
.He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45 - partial)
So what shall we do? How shall we respond to this grace and truth? The answer is to worship the One whom the Father has anointed above all. His name is Jesus Christ. He is God's love and grace and truth in human form. He is both God and man, packaged together. He traded His life for ours. He stepped in front of the bullet that would have surely ended our lives. He pushed us off the train tracks even though it cost Him everything. He became a sacrifice for our sin and rebellion. He made atonement at the Cross for every complaint, every wrongdoing, and every unrighteous thought or deed.
God is giving us a free gift of life through Jesus alone (ref. John 14:6). He is offering us a way out of judgement for our sins. But there will still be people who don't accept it. They will complain and rebel and want to do things their way, on their terms, and will refuse to accept God's order. They will walk in their wisdom and not follow after His. They will choose to accept only part of His Word, and they will ignore the parts that inconvenience them.
It is gut-wrenching for me to write that, but it's true. There will be a day that judgment falls upon the wicked and they will continue to curse God. Despite the chances God gave them to repent and receive Jesus, their hardened hearts will condemn them.
I think back to how Jesus once healed ten lepers. Only one of them came back to thank Him. Be that one. Acknowledge what Jesus has done for you. Be thankful. And if your heart will not allow you to, pray. Ask God for help. He will not turn away anyone with a heart of repentance (ref. Psalm 51:17).
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