This morning as I was walking, I walked past a really friendly couple who appeared to have different expectations of their morning walk together. The husband had set himself a good consistent pace, yet the wife had the energy of a Jack Russell. As he walked along, she would walk faster, 10-20 metres up ahead, then circle back, catch up with him for a quick second, then walk up ahead, and come back again. I was getting dizzy just watching her, but it seemed to work for them.
My faith has had chapters where it’s looked like this. Me running on ahead, getting frustrated at God for not keeping up and not providing what I need right now at this moment.
But how dare I! Sometimes it takes me 4-5 attempts just to decide what to wear, so how could I expect that I know what’s best for my life, my family and the world around me? Isn’t it all God’s? Aren’t I just meant to be a temporary steward of these things, not a control freak who holds it all too tightly?
Over the weekend I was reminded of 3 YETs in the Bible that are life changing, when we remember them. And I think that’s our collective problem, we all have such short memories. It’s not unique to our generation, God’s people in the Old Testament were the same. They replaced God with idols (like we do), they forgot what God had done in the past (like we do), they sin against God and live for themselves (like we do) and their lack of trust in God drives them to harden their hearts against Him (like we do when things don’t go our own way, or when we feel God isn’t listening).
I heard Bob Goff, author of Everybody Always, say that we need to stop looking at something as unfair and start looking at it to see Jesus. Don’t we so often see devastation in our world, or experience heartbreak, or something that isn’t absolutely ideal and blame God for it? Instead we should be trying to step back, seek God’s perspective and enlarge our vision so we can see it with His eyes.
How do we have a heart and perspective that echoes these words from Habakkuk 3:17-18?
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
When life doesn’t go as we have planned, how do we refocus ourselves? How do we look for Jesus? How do we confidently live out the “YET I will rejoice?”
Psalm 78 is a great place to start. Here’s a brief summary of the experience of the Israelites. (Note the YETs in verses 22 and 38):
- Verses 1-8 are a universal call of the importance of teaching the next generation of the goodness and faithfulness of God, so that “they would not be like their forefathers – a stubborn and rebellious generation” (v8a).
- Verses 9-20 show us how fearful and untrusting they were, by not keeping God’s covenant, they’d forgotten all that He had done in miraculously rescuing them from their oppression in Egypt, but they still rebelled against him. They still complained. They still whinged.
- Verses 21-22 we see God’s anger rising…but then something interesting happens, right when we expect God to smite them…
- Verse 22-29 “YET HE GAVE A COMMAND TO THE SKIES ABOVE AND OPENED THE DOORS OF THE HEAVENS; HE RAINED DOWN MANNA FOR THE PEOPLE TO EAT, HE GAVE THEM THE GRAIN OF HEAVEN” v23-24). Despite their consistent unfaithfulness, God was still generous, providing all that they needed.
- Verses 30-37 we see God’s anger arise again. Although His people were saying all the right things, they weren’t living them out, “their hearts were not loyal to him” (v37).
- Verse 38 “YET HE WAS MERCIFUL; HE FORGAVE THEIR INIQUITIES AND DID NOT DESTROY THEM.”
So, how do you live a life of faith in God, when things are so messy every day, here on earth? Lengthen your memory! Ask God to open your eyes to see things from His perspective and to remember what He has done in the past, not only in your life, but also in the lives of others, from the beginning of time.
BB
