Our Options

08.21.11

8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives."

When is the last time you gave, or someone gave you, options that were comparable to: which would you rather have, a broken leg or a broken arm? Sometimes the options we have aren’t all that appealing no matter which way we go. The options God gave these people were very dire – at least they were to them: surrender or die.

One of the drawbacks to being called the chosen people is the pride and arrogance that comes along with the title – chosen people. Not only were these people chosen, but they had enormous generational pride that had crept in as a result. Remarkably, they were then just like many today who imagine they can call God, God; and live any way they choose. These folks in Jeremiah’s day had already been doing this for centuries and were pretty good at living the way they wanted rather than living according to God’s rule.

Funny, God’s rule isn’t comprised of following rules; that’s where many get off on the wrong path. There are those who feel the need for a set of rules to guide them through life. They accept them and strive to rigidly abide by them. Then there are those who don’t want rules but want to live how they see fit. And then there are those who rigidly insist on rules when it’s convenient, and the freedom to do without them when it’s not. God simply wants relationship.

Granted, there are some things that God just won’t do, but that isn’t any reason for us to be suspicious. Learning to live with God is learning to be completely free in every circumstance that comes our way – even when He says, surrender to the Babylonians (or whatever else would be anathema to us). Learning to live with God sometimes includes doing what we really think we cannot do… the impossible.

My high school chemistry teacher had grew up in rural Oklahoma and farmed and drove a truck for a living until he was 50 years old. He then decided he needed to go to college and become a high school chemistry teacher. I always admired that; and learned a lot about chemistry from him.

Tomorrow, at age 56, I am starting a new career as a commission-only salesman; something I’ve never done before. No more regular paycheck; no more “job-security” – that is, except the security I choose for myself and trust God for. Sometimes our options don’t look like we want them to look but that is precisely when we need to look to God and trust in Him for the outcome.