Be Careful What You Wish For

Well, I didn't win the lottery again this week.  And that's probably a blessing.  Like it says in Luke 16:10, if I can't make it on a little bit, I probably can't be trusted with a lot.  So I will not quit my day job (which, in itself, is a blessing).  

You see, lots of us wish we could win the lottery, or maybe get a call from a probate attorney advising us that we are the beneficiaries of great wealth.  But we don't wish for the responsibilities that go with it--the taxes, the bookkeeping, the investments, and the unending solicitations from charities, causes, and poor relatives you didn't know you had.  It's no wonder that most lottery winners are dirt poor again within two short years of claiming their winnings.

My daughter and I went to see the movie Into The Woods last week.  We'd missed the opportunity several years ago to see it performed on stage by our local theatre group.  As I watched the movie, I tried to imagine the people I knew, the theater major my son went to school with, my daughter's junior high school choir teacher, and others, in the roles I saw on the big screen. The major theme of the musical production is Be Careful What You Wish For.  The opening song introduces each of the characters individually singing, "I wish, I wish..." and then stating something they don't have.  The Baker and his Wife wish for a baby.  Jack wishes that his cow would give some milk.  Ella wishes she could go to the Festival and meet the Prince.  Jack's mother wishes that her son was not a fool, that the house was not a mess, that the cow would give some milk, and that the walls were full of gold--she wishes for a lot of things.  But as the story unfolds, the things these characters had to do to make their wishes come true were always fantastic and even unbelievable, but sometimes unethical, sometimes illegal, and sometimes even fatal.

It was a good show, and left me thinking.  We all have dreams that are too outlandish to even share with our closest friends.  But what would we be willing to do to actually make them happen?  That's probably what makes them seem outlandish--we know that we couldn't, or shouldn't, do the things that would put us in a position to realize our fondest wishes.  Like quit our jobs, or leave our families.  And part of us realizes that if we do end up getting everything we wished for, it won't make us happy or fulfilled.  It could leave us scarred, or ashamed, or alone.

Last Sunday the guest speaker at our church was Dr. Jack Hayford.  While I don't ascribe to all of his theology (he was president of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel) or to all of his teachings, I do confess I have read some of his books and have enjoyed singing his songs (he wrote the worship chorus "Majesty", and he also wrote the hymn "Worship Christ the Risen King").  Anyway, he shared with us from his own personal study of the book of Joshua.  From the very first verses, God gave Joshua and the people of Israel a call to obedience.  

The first step in obedience was to cross the Jordan.  God told them to get ready to cross in Joshua 1:2.  He described how it would happen in Joshua 3:8.  The priests were instructed to go before the people, and to carry the Ark of the Covenant right up to the edge of the river.  "Tell the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river'."  They were actually told to go right up to the edge of the water, and take one more step.  Sometimes we are told to face the obstacles in our lives, and to dip our toe into the roiling waters.  When we do what He asks, in faith, God removes the obstacle.  In the Joshua narrative, the water stopped flowing; it piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam. (see Joshua 3;16)  The people could then walk across on dry ground, just as their fathers had done with the Red Sea.

The second step of obedience was to conquer Jericho.  In Joshua 1:3, God promised, "I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses."  When they approached Jericho, however, they found it protected by high, thick walls.  We see the story in Joshua chapter 6.  Under Joshua's direction, again following the priests and the Ark of the Covenant, the people did not wilt before the walls.  Instead, they encircled the place with praise.  Six days they marched around the city, listening to the shofar, or ram's horns, as the priests were trumpeting them.  On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times.  When Joshua gave the order, they all shouted.  What do you think they shouted?  The Bible doesn't say.  Some may have just made loud, unintelligible sounds, like "AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!"  Some may have shouted something else, like "For the Lord and for Joshua!"  Whatever they said, I'll bet that as they witnessed the walls crumbling before them, their shouts of war turned into shouts of praise.  This, too, is instructive to us.  If we trust the Lord to fight for us, we can shout his name at the gates, and they will open for us.  Jesus told Simon Peter, "Upon this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

The third step of obedience was to continue the journey.  Let's look again at Joshua 1:3 and following:

I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.  Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates to the Great Sea on the west.  No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  --Joshua 1:3-8

God knew before the battle was even fought that they would conquer the land.  He knew before they were born what portion of the land would be theirs.  He knew before Creation itself what lot or portion he would generously give each family.  And as long as they obeyed, and went forward in the light of faith and obedience to His words, they would be blessed.  In the same way, God has always known what your portion would be, and what my lot would be.  He set the boundaries before the beginning of time.  We are blessed when we work within our boundaries.  That is why God gave Joshua the instruction about keeping the laws of God in His Word.

Be careful what you wish for.  Too many times we want to go outside the boundaries, and we get caught in the thorns.  When we ignore what God has given us to do in the place where He has put us, we will eventually find ourselves in tattered clothing, with cuts and scars that were not His will for us. But if we are faithful to the work He has given us, in the place He has appointed for us, we will be blessed.  He wants to bless us as we live within the boundaries of His blessing.

Be careful what you wish for.  Proverbs 5:15 says, "Drink water from your own cistern."  In context, it is talking about a marital relationship.  We are to have and to hold "the wife of your youth," it says in another place.  When we think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, we end up poisoning the relationship, and finding our blessing greatly diminished.  God's perfect will for us is stolen by our lustful desires; we may regain fellowship with Him, but it will be in a much smaller lot.  He wants to bless us as we live within the boundaries of His blessing.

Be careful what you wish for.  There is nothing wrong with praying for our boundaries to increase.  Many Christians are familiar with the prayer of Jabez: in 1 Chronicles 4:10, a righteous man named Jabez prayed to God, "O, that you would bless me and enlarge my border."  Because of his faithfulness, God answered the prayer of Jabez.  He did bless him. He did enlarge his borders.  But that was because Jabez was faithful and obedient.  He did not go ahead of God, and try to get rich on his own.  He did not sacrifice his family in pursuit of the almighty dollar.  He did not look covetously at his neighbor's possessions (or his neighbor's wife), because acting upon those lusts would have taken him through the thorns.  God wants to bless us as we live within the boundaries of His blessing.