Learning About God from Mind-Reading Womanizers

Suggested Reading: Ezekiel 29:1-8

Before his fall from Hollywood grace, Mel Gibson made a movie called What Women Want. He played Nick Marshall, a womanizing, self-centered, corporate-ladder-climbing jerk who gets struck by lightning and suddenly has the ability to read women's thoughts. Tossed into the mix is his teenage daughter who stays with him while her newly remarried mother is on her honeymoon. Nick's daughter is dating a bad-boy who only wants to get her in bed and Nick knows it. Caring about his daughter, even in his own limited way, he doesn't want her to go out with him. But when this boy dumps her because she won't sleep with him, Nick comforts his daughter and experiences the urge to hurt the boy who rejected her. That is a father's instinct: to protect his children when they are hurting, even when their pain is a direct result of not listening.

One of the things that was consistent throughout the Old Testament was God's desire for his people to rely on him rather than on the nations around them, especially Egypt. When Israel's enemies surrounded her, God specifically warned his people against trusting Egypt, knowing Egypt would be unreliable. When Israel relied on Egypt anyway and Egypt didn't come through, God vowed to punish Egypt so that "All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, for to Israel you were just a staff made of reeds. When Israel leaned on you, you splintered and broke and stabbed her in the armpit. When she put her weight on you, you gave way, and her back was thrown out of joint" (Ezekiel 29:6-7, NLT). When Israel looked to the wrong people and got hurt, God wasn't happy that things backfired. God was furious with Egypt because God always wants the best for his children

If you have tried doing things your own way and suffered for it, God is not happy that you are suffering but God never rubs our noses in our mistakes. Yes, God disciplines us, but only because God loves us and wants the best for us. If you are struggling because you refused to listen to God's voice of warning, know that God loves you, that God stands ready to comfort and forgive you, and that God wants to protect you from anyone who would hurt you. God only disciplines his children so that they can learn, never to be vindictive.

When God Prefers Blatant Disobedience

Suggested Reading: Matthew 21:28-32

In Matthew 21, Jesus told a parable about a man with two sons. The man told each of his sons to go and work in his vineyard but got a different response from each. The first son blatantly refused while the second said that he would go. When everything was said and done, however, the only son to go work in the vineyard was the son who initially refused.

We don't know why the one son promised he would go and didn't but we can guess because too often, we act that way ourselves. We have reasons for our disobedience. We get too busy. We get distracted. We "forget." We "want to" but we just can't get to it.  But, however we rationalize it, much of the time we just don't want to obey and probably don't have any real intention of obeying. We feel a little bad, but we choose to believe our rationalization and push the guilt of disobedience away.  While we know that the best thing would be to simply obey when God speaks, I think it would at least be a step in the right direction if we were like the son who initially refused to go, being honest with ourselves instead of pretending that we intend to obey the voice of God.

When we have to face our disobedient hearts, we will either accept them as they are or choose to course correct and obey. Revelation 3:15-16 indicates that God might even prefer open disobedience to an attitude of faux obedience. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (NIV) God doesn't want followers who walk a fine line, trying to balance the appearance of obedience with our very real intention of ignoring the voice of God.  God would rather that we be honest with ourselves and with God. Honest disobedience is something God can work with. Lying to both ourselves and to God just clouds the situation. God will take honest rebellion over self-deceit any day of the week.