Good Morning Friends,
Well, I am back from a three-week G-Adventures trip to Spain with Amy my wife. The first part included hotel stays in Madrid, Granada, Seville, and Barcelona with our professional guide Summer leading 14 other travelers, in addition to ourselves, to see the best of Southern Spain. In Madrid we saw amazing Picasso’s, the Mona Lisa at the Prada, and toured the Palace, Parks and Cathedrals and watched almost hourly demonstrations from our hotel room on the plaza. Here one person in our group had her purse stolen, but the kids who stole it had a double helping of bad judgement served up to them for she was a retired cop and went white b$##! crazy on them, got her purse back and sent them off with their tails between their legs. In Granada we saw the Alhambra and it really brought back to my mind the stories of Washington Irving on the challenges of greed. Our tour guide here was a professor at the University and he did his doctorate on Franco and his Fascist rule’s relevance for our world today. He brought the place of the Alhambra to life and how the Moors wielded power and faith through their architecture but also it was a story about conquest and violence. In Cordoba, which was the second largest city in the world at one point, we visited the six-acre Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral. The city is purported as a place where Jews, Moslems and Christians leave peacefully together. But honestly, we did not see the evidence of this peaceful coexistence for we saw few Jews or Muslims who were not tourists themselves. In Seville, probably the most conservative Catholic religious place in Spain, we toured palaces and the grave sites of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabela. We saw a Flamenco dance up close…really close enough to feel the breeze, sweat and passion of the dancers… that we had gotten a hint of when we explored the cave dwellings where Gypsies developed the art form in Granada. In Seville we ate dinner under the largest wooden art form in Europe called the Mushroom at a place appropriately called My Favorite Restaurant. We were introduced to very different places and people, eating the food (they love octopus), and even making some of their traditional dishes ourselves (like Paella, Gazpacho, and Cream Brulle) in Barcelona. We made the food with recent immigrants to that country at an NGO based there that was helping people find jobs and establish the credentials to work and live in Spain. But we also brought with us two jars of Jiff Peanut Butter. Which we ate as well. In Barcelona we got a taste of a city that loves to celebrate with firecrackers and Barcelona Soccer wins. We toured the Castle and the rather amazing Sagrada Familia unfinished Cathedral. Then after some travel we hiked the Camino from Saria to Santiago de Compostela with 13 different vacationers in our group, staying at hotels along the way in Northern Spain. Marcos was our professional guide on this part of the journey. A million people a year take the Camino pilgrimage for all sorts of reasons, so it is not fair to say that my experience is completely unique, and yet the combined experience of North and South that included at least nine world heritage sites and multiple palaces and places of historical and religious significance to millions of people, like the Camino itself was rather amazing but also troubling. We saw something being protested almost every hour of every day except during siestas and the sultry influencers filming in the streets. Graffiti was everywhere and no effort was made to remove it. Public Murals were everywhere. One depicted the Pope dressed up as a Beekeeper smoking the bees to calm them. What became clear was that Spain has a history of great violence and great faith but today is a place that hopes to balance tolerance and peace with the strong desire for a personal and regional identity. Amy and I walked about 160 miles, and it is a miracle I never got blisters on my feet. Amy was not so lucky. We also took plane rides, bus rides, taxi rides and train rides to see the culture and people of Spain and their great diversity. It was pretty amazing being a pilgrim on the journey and reflecting on the kind people we met on the way and the humanity and history that is intertwined with our own. I think I was especially surprised by Galicia and how much it was like parts of Ireland. They even had bag pipers and stories of witches in good tourist fashion we even hugged the likeness of Saint James in the Cathedral in Compostela and took a thousand pictures over the three weeks. So, a few days ago we arrived back to Southwest Florida around midnight just in time to see some of the last of the July 4th fireworks and I am just now getting back to posting devotionals. How I was changed by the experience remains to be seen however this I know for I am still amazed that the scripture of the day from Matthew and from the book of Genesis appropriately shows us examples of God providing more that we might imagine but also something troubling. And this is more like my journey to Spain than I can easily explain. So, as I seek to get back to writing devotionals this morning I pose this question: Why Would We Ask For Less Than God Is Willing To Provide?
Scripture: After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.
Genesis 22:1b-19 (NRSV)
And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town. And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he then said to the paralytic—’stand up, take your bed and go to your home.” And he stood up and went to his home. When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
Matthew 9:1-8 (NRSV)
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NRSV)
Message: I think God puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we will not settle for less, but too often we do anyway if we do not have the right perspective. And I wonder why this is and then I realize that at some level I understand that innovation has challenges…social change that occurs to fast is almost always violent. Life has challenges of balancing tolerance with convictions. Here cruise control certainly has its limits. Emotions cloud our thinking in the life of new things. And let’s face it, technology creates new problems such as the war between my computer and my printer and my sanity. But somehow calamities can lead to advances. A tree in the road blocking our way leads to an adventure. The discovery of new things can be game changers. You see, inventions benefit from tragedies. Penicillin was mass produced because of war. Dislocation and going into a new path of something else can have a stimulating effect. Vacations can be like that if one realizes that creative things happen from problems. Perhaps we need to take a positive view of what unintended consequences can do for us. Sometimes we become anxious in facing those times when the Lord puts us into a situation where we cannot see the answer and our only option is to rely on God or an IT Guru for the solution. We have learned that trying to resolve the dilemma on our own only makes the matter worse. No Murphy’s Law is not a real law but there does seem to be a conservation of complications. We see this challenge in the story of the Lord providing a ram for Abraham in a time a testing and in the story of Jesus being tested as well in his own hometown. The beauty is that if we are always seeking the best from God, especially in challenging situations, we tend to also have a new and fresh encounter with God. Interestingly, historically the greatest innovations come out of times of difficulty. So, for Christians the message is that we are to look at unintended consequences as an opportunity for an even better innovation. And that means one thing intellectually and then another emotionally and spiritually for we must walk with sincerity, honesty, holiness, and integrity of a relationship with God if we want to receive what God is willing to provide.
And So, if we want the best of God, we need to give our best as well, especially in those situations that are most challenging. Listen, God always is persistent with his promise to give us the best, but we are not able to achieve it because many times we are satisfied with what we have instead of really learning from the intended consequences of life such as loss and failure. Perhaps you have dreams you have lost or lost luggage on a trip. Perhaps you think you are a failure. Think again. We need to get better at learning how to innovate with God. Remember God wants to give us success but brilliant ideas without God fall apart. Remember that Jesus promises that we will do greater things than He did. And that friends requires a great faith and prayer that wants everything that God can give us, but not for our glory but for God’s. For in the end chaos happens and we need God by our side if we are to have hope of getting better at using it. The paradox here is that we imagine that more options mean more freedom and so limitless freedom and more money is always the best option. The irony is that more money and more choices do not exactly make us happier. God’s idea of abundance is not the idea the world promotes. We begin to covet other people’s choices. And worshipping this god is exhausting and frustrating. The god of open options is a liar. He promises you that by keeping your options open, you can have everything and everyone. But in the end, you get nothing and no one. Friends, in the end to avoid exile and paralysis we must choose Jesus. And in doing that we realize true abundance does not come from greed but from being generous ourselves in relationship with God’s love.
Pray we change our thinking and believe we can do all things though Jesus who gives us strength. Pray we believe that God has a plan for our welfare and a future with hope. Pray we remain steadfast in a time of testing believing we will always be loved. Pray we believe that because God gave us his Son for us that we should believe that this grace would extend to all things we might need. Pray we believe that when we are called to God’s purpose and we love God, all things will work together for good. Pray we do not compromise our life’s calling. Pray we do not think the best is behind us but that it is yet to come, and that God will fulfill it for us. Pray we remember that God is persistent in giving the best for us and we need to respond with our best.
Pray we be careful in our decision-making so that it reflects our values and glorifies what is good. Pray the bigger the decision the more careful we become. Pray we have a victorious faith. Pray we realize that Jesus has the authority to help us to decide. Pray we not be paralyzed by choices. Pray we mature in our faith. Pray we not worship the god of options. Pray we realize that we need a redeemer. Pray we realize that worshipping Jesus is the only way to true freedom. Pray we advocate for the oppressed so that they might join in the fellowship of following Jesus. Pray for peace and for all those that prayed for us to come safely home for their prayers have been gloriously answered.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 