who needs God...?

With pro-con lists, well thought out arguments that cover all your bases, a world of information at your fingertips, and plenty of advice from the people around you... who needs God? Whether we believe in God, many gods, or none at all, we seem to be born with a moral compass. We know what is right and wrong. We know the possible consequences of our actions. We know how the world works. If not, well... just Google it. We can learn the "responsible" way to make life decisions, and generally people will praise you for whatever choices you make (at least publicly on your Facebook page).

Really, we don't operate with many needs. There are plenty of wants, but when it comes to needs we tend to be dependent solely upon ourselves and our own capabilities. We know that a job equals an income and an income equals provision. We know that if you want to get a good career you should go to college first. We know that in order to be happy in life we should be able to afford a good house and buy the things that should fulfill us. We know that if you have sex you could get pregnant. We know that if you break the law it will likely cost you (in more ways than one). We know that if we get drunk we could end up doing all sorts of stuff we wouldn't have done in sound mind. We know that if we cheat on our boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/etc that we are heaping a web of issues upon ourselves.

We are taught cause and effect from a young age. We are tested on it in elementary school. But another thing we are taught is how to wiggle out of these same rules and consequences. We can freeload off of each other or our parents and not have to deal with growing up and getting a good career. We can seek the new American dream and putter around in college getting a partying degree. We can avoid the outcomes of sex through all sorts of contraceptives and recon plans. We break all sorts of traffic violations, but never get caught thanks to radar detectors. We drink, then choose to ignore much we may have humiliated ourselves. We cheat and then keep it a secret or lie our way even further into it.

Often times we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place because there isn't an absolute that is easily settled upon. We live in an age where my truth is mine and your truth is yours. If I can put a strong enough rationale behind my point of view to convince myself I'm doing okay, then others can do the same. We are all "free" to live our lives any way we want, in the name of justice and truth.

In Joshua 9 a group of men living nearby come to deceive Joshua and the Israelites. They know the Isrealites are dominating every kingdom in the area and are worried they will be next... unless they can make a peace treaty. In order to trick the Israelites, they purposefully appear as if they are from a distant land (thus, not a threat) by manipulating their appearance. The men wear old clothing and use old wine-skins, as if they have been weathering through the whole trip. They bring rotten bread, as if it has been aging through a long journey, in hopes that it will assure the Israelites to trust them. In Joshua 9:14-15 it says, "The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath."

I can just hear the internal monologue of the men making this decision. Everything checked out. They felt justified in making a decision of peace with these men; after all, they were only ordered by God to destroy the men residing in the land that had been given to them. These men are from a far away land, it could be good to make friends. We know this because they are carrying old bread... it must have been a long time they were on the road! Look at these wine-skins, they are cracked and aged... what a long journey! Look at their clothes, they are worn with travel. Not only did the Israelites feel justified in their decision, but they probably felt godly. They probably felt like they were making a merciful decision. They felt empowered. They felt in control. They carefully took all rational and physical evidence into account, weighed the possible outcomes, and made a decision . Its the same thing we do on a daily, no hourly, basis... and it's fine.....

Unless you consider God. There's a change that happens in us when we decide to surrender our will to God's will. If we are truly consecrated to the Lord then we go where he goes, we do what he does, we make the decisions that he prompts. Often the thing that God wants is so very different from the thing we have been taught all our lives. The will of God tends to go against our natural, selfish thinking. The things God wills for us lie in faith, not control on our part. What God wants is the inquiring heart. Joshua and his men "did not inquire of the Lord." then made a decision completely on their own. The consequences of this? A lack of protection, separation between them and God, the struggle of being out of the will of God, the possibility of missing what God really wanted because they took their own path, and, perhaps most frustrating of all, being stuck later trying to remedy the situation within the confines of our own ill-made decision.

Although what God wants for us tends to be counter-culture and not solely based on the solutions we ourselves work out, it usually is still rooted in rational, logical, and moral thought (depending on your definition of these terms). But the path is different for those of us in the Spirit than it is for humans as a separate entity. We are supposed to get to the correct decision through inquiry, by means of the Lord's leading. It's a matter of choosing between the best that we can muster up for ourselves, or simply the best. Period. The solution to our questions may be the same as we previously thought, but in communion with the Lord it takes on a new power. Or maybe the solution is to make a 180 degree turn. The solution may be patience or it could be action. It could be letting up or pushing forward. But how will we know unless we INQUIRE, honestly seeking the heart of the Lord. So what "will" will it be?