Society today is an uncomfortable, if not outright frightening, atmosphere in which to find one’s bearings. Nearly everybody comes with the excuse of parents who were dysfunctional, and so we all were neglected. I do not say this tongue in cheek. I see the world spinning out of control, and all of us long for a safe place to grow and prosper. But growth is hard to find while constantly dodging emotional turmoil, either our own or others around us. Most likely both. It seems people have little opportunity to live in peace. The daily struggle just to survive is more than most can cope with, thus the field of psychology blooms and grows, but is psychology the answer? Cultivate yourself. Stop looking to others for love and approval. Well said, but there still is something lacking…
Does anyone really get well doing that? Or do we produce a bunch of independent automatons? Needs are still there and nobody is filling them. We make mistakes as we live our lives, and family is the first to point the finger at how we have messed up. Children blame parents for their own difficulties and they are right, except when you look at the parenting that the parents had and left a vacant hole in their hearts which led them to be the way they were with their children.
The Bible talks about the sins of the fathers passing down the to third and fourth generation, well that means everything has mounted up upon this generation to the point where we are fighting everything that we inherited and the animosity of those in our world who also carry the same burden and perhaps blame us for their own discomfort. Is there any hope? I hear people say, if only I had a million dollars so I could live comfortably and not need people! If money could fix the problem, we would have a lot of well-adjusted millionaires, but we see people like Howard Hughes locking himself up in his ivory tower suite! The quest for money is similar to the addiction to alcohol, drugs or any other addiction. It feels good to succumb for the moment but then you must pay dearly in emotional backwash! And the money game is about being on the hamster wheel, never having enough!
Someone I knew once asked me if I could be happy living off the interest from a well invested million dollars. At the time, it came to over $50,000 per year. That is the interesting question. And no, apparently money does not satisfy because it often leads to endless chasing after more and more.
At this time of chaos, where is our Creator? It feels to some that He has gone away and left us to our own devices. Surely not! If we don’t find Him, maybe it is because we are not taking the time to connect with Him? If we never call out to Him, there is no way he will impose on us. He respects our free will. Can we believe that when all hell breaks loose? Do we blame him for the chaos in the world? Or can we be happy even if life does not go as planned? –That sometimes bad things come to us regardless of whether our Maker is in the picture or not, but having Someone to help shoulder the burden just might make it possible to endure. Right?
When Moses spoke his last words to Israel before they crossed the Jordan, he told them:
Deu 31: “6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for YHVH thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” After 3000 plus years, is this still true?
Mal 3: “6 For I, YHVH, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”
But how do we disentangle ourselves from looking to people and from our sick dependence upon close relatives, (wives, husbands, children, parents, siblings). When we observe others carefully, we realize that they are as broken or more so than we are and if they don’t know God, they won’t be able to give us a thing other than a temporary fix. But there are always consequences of getting a quick fix. When they give, they expect something in return—maybe more than we can give them. And then we may all find ourselves blaming one another. Blame is not a game that works because it always comes back to accuse us. If we place the ball in the right court, so to speak-our happiness in Heaven’s court, then we will make it through.
Psalm 138: 8: “YHVH will perfect that which concerns me, Your mercy, O YHVH endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
Zechariah 3 speaks of Joshua the high priest, a historical figure at the time of the return from Babylon. I believe there is a message beyond the history of those times. Joshua stands before the Eternal as awaiting judgment. We see the Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. YHWH tells the attendants to take away Joshua’s filthy garments. I believe these garments represent the faults and mistakes that we have committed over our lives and that continually dog our steps, the adversary (whether this be close friends, or relatives or our reputation in society) is quick to accuse us. But, in the text, the guilty garments are removed. Verse 4 says Joshua’s “guilt” is removed–the guilt of Joshua’s past failures. Does this mean that none can accuse him now? Probably not, but perhaps this is about restoration of Joshua’s self-image, which comes with the realization of God’s forgiveness!
Proverbs 28:13: “He that covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy.”
So then what happens to Joshua? After the filthy garments (his sins and mistakes) are removed, his heavenly attendants cloth him in priestly garments and place a royal crown on his head. He is commissioned to keep God’s charge and if he does, he will rule over the House of God and move among the other priests which he sees sitting before him. This is only a part of the Biblical story, but there is an application to this story for each of us today.
When we realize that our filthy garments are removed, then we will be immune to the accusations of others. That does not mean we can lean on them ever again for approval. If we have God’s approval, we need nothing more! We may not rule the courts of the Most High, but we can rule our own lives without regrets.
Hab 3: “17 For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in YHVH, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 YHVH, the Lord, is my strength; And he makes my feet like hinds’ feet, And will make me to walk upon my high places. “
Ariella
