It's the little things

“Who dares despise the day of small things?” Zechariah 4:10

The other day I was going down the interstate and most of the trees were brown, thanks to winter. The scenery was, for the most part, lifeless, bleak, and depressing, except for small clusters of purple blossoms on trees here and there. I almost missed the blossoms because I didn’t want to look at dead trees. Amidst the bland scenery of dead trees there was life in bursts of vibrant color.

These pockets of blossoms on the trees were like the small things in life God gives us. Life can be bleak if you don’t notice the small things in life. We humans tend to get caught up in day-to-day things and completely miss small gifts from God, like the flowers on the trees. The small gifts remind us of God’s sovereignty. He’s in control at all times, even when life is bleak.

Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” If we don’t appreciate the little things in life, then God won’t trust us with larger things. To Jesus, a little thing can be powerful.

Recall the parable of the mustard seed, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32) Such a small thing and yet it can yield much.

Be thankful to God for the little things He does in our lives to remind us that He’s there. Life becomes bleak when you don’t appreciate the little things. However, when you do appreciate the little things life becomes joyful.

God gives us so much to be thankful for, so don’t let the small things in life pass you by. Look out for the small things and give some thanks to the Lord for them when you notice them.

Ephesians 5:20 is a good reminder of this, it explains that we should always be “giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Absalom, Absalom!

My topic today is Absalom, the son of King David. Absalom’s entire story is found in 2 Samuel chapters 13-18. I suggest that you read this first because everything is from these chapters.

The story of Absalom begins with the rape of his sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13). Amnon, who is actually the half-brother of both Absalom and Tamar, lusted after the beautiful Tamar. Amnon became so obsessed with her that he made himself ill. One day Amnon dishonestly arranges for Tamar to come to his bedroom and he rapes her. Then he throws her out of his house in disgrace for his own sin. The Bible says that “Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her.” (2 Samuel 13:15)

When Absalom heard what happened, he took Tamar in to live with him. David was furious when he found out what happened, however, he did nothing about it. There are many theories about why David refused to do anything, but the fact of the matter is that he didn't do anything in the way of justice. (2 Samuel 13:20-22) For two years Absalom held a grudge against Amnon and plotted his assassination. Absalom then killed Amnon at a banquet he planned solely for the purpose of killing Amnon (2 Samuel 13:23-28).

Absalom fled to Geshur afterwards, where he found asylum with the king of Geshur. He stayed there for three years and David longed to see him, but he didn’t go see him. (2 Samuel 13:37-39) He mourned over Absalom ‘day and night.’ Thanks to Joab, David’s commander, Absalom was eventually allowed to return to Jerusalem, without being allowed to see David (2 Samuel 14:38).

Absalom became tired of waiting for King David to summon him, so he hatched a plot to gain an audience with the king. Absalom sent for Joab and he refused to see him; he sent for Joab a second time and again Joab refused. Joab’s fields were adjacent to Absalom’s fields, so Absalom had his servants ignite Joab’s fields. Joab approached Absalom once he found out that Absalom lit his fields on fire, he demanded to see the king and Joab then took him to David. When David saw Absalom he kissed him, which evidently meant that he was forgiven for Amnon’s murder. (2 Samuel 14:29-33)

Absalom entered into a conspiracy to usurp the throne. He set himself up at the city gates as a judge, people would bring complaints before him and he would promise to fix said problem once he was king, thus gaining him popular support. After doing this for four years he went to Hebron under the guise of fulfilling a vow, but, in actuality, he sent secret messengers throughout Israel proclaiming that Absalom was king of Hebron, which gained him more support. Fearing for his life, David fled Jerusalem and Absalom took the city. (2 Samuel 15:1-18) Absalom also controlled the royal harem that David left behind and slept with his concubines, which was an unforgivable act in those days.

David wept as he climbed the Mount of Olives (2 Samuel 15:30). Absalom then laid plans to immediately pursue and attack David’s forces, but the idea was abandoned owing to the advice of Hushai (2 Samuel 17). This delay allowed David to muster what troops he had at Mahanaim and mount a counterattack to retake the kingdom. At the advice of his men, David did not march with the army to retake Jerusalem. He commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai to be gentle with Absalom. (2 Samuel 18:1-5)

The armies of David and Absalom clashed in the forest of Ephraim, there were twenty thousand casualties and David’s army was victorious. Absalom met David’s troops and fled on his mule, but his hair caught a branch of a tree he rode under. As he was dangling from the tree, Joab disobeyed David’s orders. The Bible says that Joab “took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.” (2 Samuel 18:1-17)

Upon hearing what happened David wept and said, of his unruly son, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33)

There you have the tragic story of Absalom. Those are the facts we have about Absalom, but there are several questions this account brings up:

Why didn’t David punish Amnon for the rape of Tamar? Why did Joab convince David to allow Absalom back into Jerusalem? Why did David kiss Absalom instead of punishing him for killing Amnon? Why didn’t David quell Absalom’s rebellion instead of fleeing Jerusalem? Why did David think God would allow Absalom to kill him? And last, but not least: why did David mourn over Absalom after all that he did?

None of these questions really have a clear answer. Now, you may be wondering what it is that we can learn from this account; it appears to be a clear cut story, what else can you say?

David, for whatever reason, had a soft spot for Absalom, even after he killed Amnon and overthrew Jerusalem. To me, it seems David’s biggest mistake in this saga was leaving God out of it. These passages don’t mention anything about David praying before making any of these decisions, they were knee-jerk reactions. Absalom was a blind spot for David, dealing with Absalom took him away from God.

David did not discipline either of his sons involved in this situation. He should have disciplined Amnon for his crime against Tamar. He had the right, no the obligation, to punish him legally for the crime and he wouldn’t do it. Then, if Absalom still killed Amnon, David should have punished him for that. As Proverbs 29:15 says, A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.”

We can also learn a lesson from Absalom himself. David made some mistakes in dealing with Absalom, but he was old enough to make his own decisions. A poor decision he made was not trusting in God’s will; instead, he chose to take matters into his own hands. What Amnon did to Tamar was indefensible, but that’s not justification for Absalom’s murder of him. Revenge is not for us to have. Romans 12:17-19 says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”

In closing, let us all take the accounts of Absalom as a cautionary tale and avoid making the same mistakes as the ones made here. The take home lessons are: pray before making any important decision, discipline your children properly (if applicable), trust in God’s will, and don’t take the law into your own hands. These are lessons we can all use reminding of.

God Always Knows What We Need

I was watching the a medical drama the other day where a psychiatrist a patient that suffers from this recurring hallucination of a wolf that attacks him. The cause of the hallucination wasn’t addressed. The young man’s father was the psychiatrist’s other patient and he, naturally, was trying to do everything in his power to help him. His son’s medications weren’t working and therapy wasn’t working either, so they went as far as trying deep brain stimulation.

Deep brain stimulation is a procedure where electrodes are inserted in certain areas of the brain. These electrodes produce electrical impulses that regulate abnormal impulses. This procedure is only approved by the FDA to treat a small number of conditions, such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. The procedure is risky because the surgery can have serious complications and the side effects after surgery can be serious as well.

The young man in the show has a successful surgery without any complication, however, his hallucination returns. Having exhausted all options the doctor suggests that he go spend some time at an agriculture co-op to get him out of the city. The doctor realized that the young man’s hallucinations are incurable because the father and himself are trying too hard to fix him instead of just giving him support. So, the father and the son decide that this is the best option and it will allow him to focus on drawing, which is his hobby.

The lesson I took away from this is that sometimes people identify a problem that needs fixing, then they realize they identified the wrong problem. They thought they knew what they needed, however, they didn’t know what they needed. This isn’t an issue for God, though.

This episode reminded me of one of the healings Jesus performed. From Mark 2, “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”” (v. 1-5)

Jesus did heal the man of his paralysis later in the account, but he started with what the man really needed: forgiveness of sin. The man and his friends were seeking physical healing for him (which isn’t wrong), however, they didn’t know everything the paralyzed man needed. Jesus knew everything the man needed and he knew what was more important. Forgiveness of sins prepared the man for eternal life, priority 1, whereas healing made his earthly life easier, priority 2.

We, as humans, want what we want to be fixed, fixed first, but God knows what we really need. Paul wrote in Romans 8:26-27, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

God himself intercedes for us in our prayers to take the intentions of our hearts and show us what we should pray for. He knows that we truly don’t know what we need many times, so He helps us to understand what we need to pray for.

I always liked the story of this particular healing. It’s obvious that I can relate to the man, in that we both have physical disabilities. I can also relate with the man’s need for spiritual healing, as in God’s grace and forgiveness of sins. Both the paralyzed man and I received spiritual healing first. Jesus knew the man wanted physical healing, but He also knew the man needed spiritual healing.

I am thankful that God healed me spiritually before healing me physically. If He later chooses to cure Muscular Dystrophy, then I’ll be thankful for that too; however, if He doesn’t, then I’ll still be thankful for spiritual healing.

God always knows exactly what we need, even when we don’t know what we need. Matthew 6:8 puts this another way, it says that the “Father knows what you need before you ask him.” When you pray, remember that God will always know what you need.