The other day I was going over the bible story of David (1 Samuel 16) with one of my children. She started going over everything in minute detail. I probably should have been more patient, but after a few minutes I asked, “OK, so what? What does it all mean? Why is this story important?” Since my daughter has heard me ask this question before, she was able to stop and respond, “God has a plan?”
Yes. God indeed has a plan. And sometimes that plan may seem seriously crazy in the moment. All we know is that it may feel uncomfortable or confusing or frustrating or “fill-in-the-blank.” Again, going back to David, my daughter and I talked about how when he was first anointed, he was the very youngest who was called forward out of all of his brothers. How would that have made the oldest brother feel when he found out his youngest brother was just anointed king of Israel? Or any of the other brothers for that matter? Does that sound “fair”? How do you think those other rejected brothers felt? How would YOU feel if someone got something that you really, really wanted, but for reasons out of your control and/or understanding, someone else got it? I mean, what’s up with that?
And then it all came into focus and something pretty profound dawned on me. I recently saw a profane laced rant by a very angry woman. I’ll refrain from attaching the video, but I’m sure you can find if not that specific video but many that have the same sentiment. This one video in particular was rationalizing the rioting and looting because of the fact that others who have “more” have flaunted their “things” in black and brown people’s faces. And therefore many people of color who have no hope of getting those “things” another way have seen their opportunity of getting said “things” through a broken window; so they go and take it.
Now I understand that there have been things in the past that have treated people of color unfairly. That is undeniable. Does there remain a bias? I’m sure in some cases, that is the case. And actually, even given that it is the case even today (assuming that things are unfair), does that make stealing things OK? Because as Believers, I know we are held accountable to the Law of God. Actually, we are ALL held to the Law of God, whether or not we acknowledge Him, and we have been commanded not to steal (the 7th commandment) and not to covet (10th commandment).
It doesn’t matter if it’s unfair. It doesn’t matter if we understand why. It is NEVER OK to steal or covet. Back to David – his brothers would understandably be ticked off about him being anointed king. Talk about unfair! He was the youngest, the least tried, the weakest. And yet God chose him. Why? So NOT FAIR! But you know what? God never promised our lives to be fair or equitable. I need to remind myself of this more often than I’d care to admit. I’ve looked around to those around me and thought to myself, why them? Why not me? Or what about, why me? Why not them? Anyone else?? But we are not sovereign. We don’t know everything. And whether or not we want to, whether or not we understand (my mantra – just ask my children), as Believers we must bend our will’s to His and trust that God is good and that God is faithful. His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).
We have not been placed here on this planet to have our every desire met. That just isn’t reality. It’s easy to get caught up in that mindset when we are surrounded by the perceived wealth around us, but guess what? What about the people in the northern border of Thailand? Or the slums of India? Or the mountains of Tibet? What about THEIR desires? Or are we somehow better because we live here in the United States and they live there? I’m certain they have desires too, but I’d bet they’d be very different than our desires. Like maybe having clean water. Or access to a good education. Or, can you imagine, a car? For many around the world, a car would be an incredible luxury. I remember visiting Vietnam when we lived in Korea, and seeing everyone riding a scooter. Entire families. With their pets. Not even kidding.
But at the end of the day, some may not even get the clean water they so desperately desire and in reality NEED. And wow, does that not seem fair. But again, the LORD put us on this planet not to fulfill our every desire or even some of our perceived needs, but to have us bring Him glory and enjoy Him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism). That is our chief end. We are called to be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). And praise His name for that! In whatever capacity, with much or with little, we need to do that. Since when we don’t, we end up chasing after idols our hearts create and wind up miserable in the process. Those idols will NEVER satisfy our deepest needs. We were made for more. We were made to glorify Christ. That is not only our duty but our honor as we, as those who have repented of our sin, are the unmerited recipients of God’s grace and mercy. Can I hear an Amen?
I pray we are not tempted to rationalize bad choices for the injustices we sense we have been recipients of. I’m not even arguing the legitimacy of those injustices (and for clarity, I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to amend those injustices in a biblically aligned way; we definitely should!). But what I am saying is that although we can rarely control what happens to us, we CAN control how we react to each situation. Will we respond in rage and bitterness for not getting what we think we deserve or need? Or will we submit to the sovereignty of God and trust that He knows better than we do, and choose to glorify Him rather than glorifying a fleeting, wicked desire rearing its ugly head in our hearts (Jer. 17:9)? LORD give us the strength and wisdom to choose to do what’s right rather than what’s easy.
