1 Samuel 25.38 About
ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
What is our image of God – I mean, mentally. What does
God look like to us in our minds? God is powerful. God is wise. God is good.
God is love. All of these things (and infinitely more) are true about God. We must
remember that. Especially, since: the Lord
struck Nabal, and he died.
One thing we fight all the time is our belief that God is
somehow like us – or we’re somehow like Him. Our temptation is to tame God into
our concept of who we think He should be. The temptation is to relegate God
into a better make and model of
ourselves. God (the Lord) struck Nabal, and he died. We’d do that out of
vengeance. We might do that punitively. In our minds, Nabal probably deserved
to die for being such a jackass. But God doesn’t think that way, and, to us, He
shouldn’t.
Men demand answers: why
does this happen; why does that? We attempt to put a commentary on the
things in life as if there’s some folksy wisdom that explains all of what
mystifies and marvels us. We say things like: There’ll be some good that will come out of: _________. Or we say
things like: God’ll never gives us more
than we can bear; or other such nonsense as we attempt to make sense out of
nonsense. To us there must be a reason, so we come up with one, since we can’t
explain what we can’t explain.
About ten days
later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. God took him. The days of Nabal’s life were always in God’s hands, and
when his number was up, God struck Nabal and he died. NOTE: God is given credit
in the narrative for taking Nabal’s
life. The temptation may be to believe that God did it somehow outside the
parameters of His goodness and righteousness; like God had some ax to grind
with Nabal. God is good, and never does anything
apart from His love.
I don’t know why the Scriptures attribute Nabal’s death
to the Lord. I do know this: whatever the reason, God’s character and
attributes aren’t diminished at all – God is God, and whatever the reason: He has a reason; but He isn’t obligated to
reveal it to us as if we deserve an answer. That’s where we fall down in our
understanding of who God is, and why He does what He does. It just complicates things
for us when we insist that God would never do such a thing – when His word says
plainly, He does.
There is not one hair out of place in the Universe (or
beyond); God controls it all. We want to concoct thoughts about God that would
say: Well, God allowed Nabal to die,
but He wasn’t responsible. Well, what if He was? What if God struck Nabal and he died? Who am I; who
are we, to question His motives? God deserves our respect and our respect ought
to include: Lord, whatever You do, You do
it well – not according to us – but according to You. Who are we to question
who You are, and how You are? I’ll bet Nabal’s mom cried at his passing…
God is trustworthy even if we don’t (or won’t or can’t) understand
why. Life seems to be easier to take, when: not understanding or having all the
answers, I simply point to the heavens and admit: God, I don’t understand, but I do trust You! It’s all about trust
no matter who dies, or when.
Father, You are in
control, and You do what You do without my commentary of what and why and when.
I trust You and accept in this world are many things that mystify me; but Your
goodness and righteousness cover them all, and one day, maybe, You’ll explain
to me why. My goal is You, not having to know why You do what You do –
amen.
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