Skip to main content

Baffled

“The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’” Genesis 11:6-7

I will confess I’ve been baffled by this passage. It appears that as men rejected God’s command to spread out and replenish the earth after the flood and began to build a tower for their own glory, that God gets scared of them. He seems to say that it will be impossible to stop what men want to do. As I’ve studied it more, I don’t believe God was scared at all. I believe He had loving concern that men would quickly return right back to the depth of sin that precipitated God’s judgement through the flood.

When men and women work in a common cause, it is powerful. If that is true with human effort, how much more can we do if we seek and wait on the power that comes from God’s Spirit? We tend to rely so much on ourselves, and God gets concerned. He even gives us the ability to choose to follow Him or not. But we will never and can never control the consequences of our choices. That right belongs to God alone.

Prayer Focus: Lord, thank You that You place boundaries in our lives so that we know that You are God and we are not. Today, may Your Spirit enable us to seek You and Your desires for us rather than using our power to build monuments to ourselves.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Storyteller

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” Acts 1:8-9 These are the last words Jesus speaks to his Apostles just before ascending into heaven. Not what they were expecting. They were wondering when Jesus was going to set up His Kingdom on earth. As He was ascending into heaven He reveals we are the ones to accomplish the task. Jesus’ departure is not desertion; it is a commission to be the storytellers of truth to the rest of the world. Frequently, we look at this scripture in relationship to our life. We perceive Jerusalem as our own community, Judea as our city, Samaria as our country and the ends of the earth as the world. Christ informed the apostles they will have the power of the Holy Spirit to reach these people. Notice the word “and...” Jesus didn’t say...
1 comment
Read more

The Way We Pray

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 What brings answered prayer in a Christian’s life? Do you ever feel that you pray and God is silent or that you grow weary in your prayer life because it seems that God isn’t answering your heart’s desires? Could it be that many times it is because of the way we are praying? This passage of Scripture goes on to say, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Taking God’s yoke on ourselves is a picture of an animal having a harness around its neck and can’t move to the right or left but only where the farmer is leading. It may seem restrictive to see God in that same way, but He wants us to follow Him looking straight ahead and keeping our eyes focused on Him and His purposes. It keeps us from getting sidetracked in our Christian walk. Then, our praying becomes asking Him for things He is desiring for us and those aro...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Just Happened?

“They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” Luke 24:32 There are many times in our walk with the Lord that God meets us exactly where we are at, in a moment of great crisis, or maybe a moment of great joy. These are often powerful moments that form our view of God and help us trust Him. The natural reaction to encounters like this is often to run and find someone to share that experience with. There are other moments when God meets us in the midst of our conversations with others. Have you ever experienced a time when an everyday conversation about life turns into a moment when together, you come in contact with the living God? See, often we only think worship happens in the church walls or at least with a church function, but worship, giving of ourselves to the Lord, happens every time we come in contact with Jesus, and respond to Him. That might happen on a jobsite, in ...
Post a Comment
Read more