Lord's Prayer: If he's leading, why do I need deliverance?

"Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil (one)."

Long have I thought on this verse and struggled with its implications. We pray for God to lead us like the Psalm 23 shepherd who guides by relationship but also has tools to keep his sheep from danger. He can protect the sheep with his rod or block the departure from safety with his staff.  We long to be guided with such security.

Yet, sheep are stupid. As a veterinarian, I watched a shepherd gently call all his sheep to himself and lead them expertly through multiple gates to better pasture - except for the little guy on the side of the flock who just seemed absurdly impatient. He came to the gate and decided it would be quicker to jump around the fencepost to the right rather than the left like everyone else. And so jumped squarely into the fence itself. Next came panic and running back and forth behind the fence as the flock walked away down the path. He was trapped, victimized by his own poor judgment. Anatomically, sheep have big brains; physiologically, they seem underused. Sounds like a good spiritual description of me.

Hence my thinking about "lead and deliver" in the Lord's prayer is shaped by a vivid memory of that stupid little lamb. The shepherd's leading was there all along and most of the time, the little guy followed it. Yet with just one split-second of poor judgment disaster developed. After that, forget leading, he needed deliverance.

So I pray that the good shepherd chooses paths for me that do not lead me into circumstances like Abraham's "offer thine only son", or Job's "have you considered my servant", or Jesus's "he was led by the Spirit into the desert". I pray that he just leads me through the gates and down the smooth path to better pasture. Yet along that path I know there will be fence posts and I'll jump the wrong way occasionally - whether by ignorance, allurement or evil influence. I just know that I'll end up looking stupid, running around behind a barrier bleating loudly as I watch the shepherd walk away. In those moments, "Lord, deliver me."

Joshua 1:1-9; Spirit or Word?

Lately I have spent a lot of time reading and debating with myself over decision-making and the will of God. Does God speak to everyone? Anyone? Does he guide by opening and closing doors? Does he guide by his Word or by his Spirit? Since that is in my mind, it jumps off the page to me that God spoke of both his word and his presence in leading Joshua. Here it is obviously not one or the other but both. Joshua was strictly told to study and keep the word of God; his confidence and boldness, however, was to come from the presence of God. It seems to be more of a "both / and" rather than "either / or" situation.

Culture seems to influence us more than we like to admit. The present norm on our college campuses seems to be a fear of anything that looks institutional and an embrace of anything that looks mystic. Hence, it is much more en vogue to talk about relying on the spirit of God rather than spend time reading and meditating on the written word. It is also a lot less work to wait on a sign from God rather than seek wisdom. Yet, Joshua received a direct revelation from God that told him to pursue one and trust the other. He was not told "just trust me" nor was he told "just follow this." Both aspects were critical to his success in life.

I think all of us are not only influenced by our society but by our personal tendencies to lean towards one side or the other. The key seems to be to diagnose which way I am leaning and force myself to return to a balance of the two.

Mark 10:35-45; Powerlessness

Somehow we are wired to seek power; Jesus has all power and seeks those who relinquish power. In the early paragraphs of this chapter little children are accepted while the actions of adults are spurned and rich men are stumped while poor people are embraced. Yet James and John still wanted power. Obviously the indignation of the other apostles was not due to their lack of seeking power but due to jealousy; otherwise, Jesus would not have stopped to teach them again.

Perhaps the greatest irony is that all this occurs as the king of the world is marching to surrender himself to his enemies. There is no scene that conveys a greater lack of power than that of the accused and abused Jesus who refuses to fight back. On his way to surrender, his disciples audaciously play power games.

Two thousand years later, we do not have it down either. Often church leaders are those who have success in business, who "get things done by running over others" or who have higher degrees. Success and education are good things but were never meant by Jesus to be the goal of life nor the reason for promoting someone to leadership in the kingdom. What would the church look like today with child-hearted, economically unsuccessful leaders whose first reaction was to surrender rather than fight back?

Romans 8:18-27; Waiting

After reading this section three times all I can hear is John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" playing through my mind. He sings of being powerless and waiting for change to come. So much of this text speaks of the same thing. Creation is subjected and anxious for change. We are striving to patiently wait for redemption. Even our prayer life is incomplete and we must let the Spirit lead us in it.

All my life I've been active and worked hard. Waiting patiently for change is not a description of who I am. In fact, it has often been something that those who have shaped me despised. Perhaps that is because waiting patiently in hope is different from being lazy and distant, though on the outside they might look similar. Yet for me, waiting is work. Waiting patiently takes effort.

I can hear Moses say to the Israelites on the side of the Red Sea as they were being hemmed in by the Egyptians, ". . . you need only to be still." (Ex. 14:14) So today I will work at not working out my spiritual issues. I'll focus my activity on being still before God and waiting for the world to change.