doubt

Faith Makes Us Courageous

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“So he sent horses and chariots and a heavy military force there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Then the attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold, a military force with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his young man said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he said, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”” (2 Kings 6:14–16, LSB)

Yesterday I wrote that “sin makes us stupid.” You can read that post here. But in the continuing saga of Elisha, we also see that faith makes us courageous.

The King of Aram was determined to get Elisha and silence him. He sent what is described in 2 Kings 6:14 as ancluded not only armed soldiers but also horses and chariots “heavy military force,” which i. Not that any of that scares God, or even Elisha. But it did scare Elisha’s servant.

Can you imagine that poor young man? He got up in the morning and probably went out to the well to make some of that good dark roast Damascus coffee for himself and his master, and what does he see? An enormous army at his front door! Maybe he backed up slowly. Maybe he screamed like a child. Who knows how he reacted initially, but what we read is that he reported to his master his dismay: “What shall we do?”

Elisha’s reaction is calm and cool. He doesn’t rush to look out the window. He doesn’t start pacing or figuring out how he can talk himself out of being killed or arrested. He doesn’t begin counting up all his valuables to see if he has enough to bribe the commander of this grand army. Nope. Elisha, in my imagination, takes a slow sip of his coffee and smiles as he tells the servant to calm down.

“Don’t be afraid,” he says to his attendant. Elisha seems to know something that this young man doesn’t. Don’t panic? Don’t be afraid? Clearly, Elisha didn’t have a full grasp of his faculties. How could they not panic? How could they not be afraid? Today they were most likely going to die. At best, they would be imprisoned and beaten! Don’t be afraid?

The servant saw a great army of the enemy of Israel, but Elisha knew that there is more out there than what our limited human eyes can see. We might be tempted to think that Elisha could see more, but the Bible doesn’t say he saw anything. I think he could only see what his young man could see—an overwhelming situation that would make all of us panic. So what gives? Why was Elisha so calm?

The prophet of God knew what all people of faith know—that this world is made up of material and immaterial realities. We cannot see all that is before us. But with the eyes of faith, we can entrust ourselves to the God who sees it all. Not only could God see the King of Aram, but He can also see our predicaments as well. Elisha knew this, and thus, he was cool and settled even if he didn’t see anything more than his servant.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (LSB). Elisha took the opportunity to show his young servant (as well as Israel, and us too), what only faith understands, that God is greater than any problem we face. He is a Warrior and King, and He is our Defender and Shield. God tells us that in His Word, so we need to believe Him for what He has said. But for our benefit, Elisha prayed that the curtain, just this once, would be pulled back so that our feeble, faithless eyes could see what is ordinarily invisible. And wow!

Elisha wasn’t afraid. Not because he could see the unseen. But because He believed God with the eyes of faith. And that faith makes men and women of God courageous in the face of troubling circumstances. However it might look, we need to remember that God is in control, and there is much more at play behind the scenes than we will ever know.

Placing Our Hope in God Alone (weekend repost)

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

A few years ago I had the opportunity to walk through the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, OH. Moving from one hangar to the next I saw the evolution of aircraft from the Wright brother’s first plane to the modern surveillance drones of today.

It isn’t hard to be in a place like that and not have an overwhelming sense of patriotism as I see the military defense weapons and aircraft that our nation has used in the defense of our country and many other countries all around the world. Seeing these beautiful machines and their sheer size made me feel a little sorry for anyone that stood against them in a battle.

Read the rest of this post here: Placing our Hope in God Alone

The Rage Against Truth

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

“These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”” (Acts 19:25–28, ESV)

As Paul proclaimed the gospel in Ephesus, the effects trickled down, affecting the very livelihood of those involved in the idol-makers guild. The testimony of Paul is clear, even when spoken from the lips of the pagan silversmith Demetrius–“gods made with hands are not gods.”

As he gathered the guildsmen to refute this challenge to their trades, Demetrius could have sought to put together a powerful rebuttal against Paul’s accusation. He could have challenged Paul to a debate, or showed where Paul’s reasoning went off track. He could have pointed out inconsistencies that he saw in Paul’s arguments against the practice of Diana worship, but he did none of these things.

Instead, Demetrius did what so many others do when they cannot refute the truth of the gospel–they resort to emotional appeals that focus on rage and victimhood. The best response that these tradesmen could come up with was to whip themselves up into a frenzied mob and shout “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” for about two hours (Eph 19:34). After all, they reasoned, everyone knows this is true! Why answer questions, and why reason or have a civil conversation? Raging anger, shouting, and mob violence were all they could come up with.

I wish I could say that society has become more “civilized” in its response to contrary ideas and viewpoints, particularly about religion–but it hasn’t. Emotional responses completely devoid of reason, civil conversation, and informed information are harder to find than ever.

As a Christian, I do not claim to know all the answers, but I am more than willing to sit down and talk to someone about what I believe the Bible and Christian faith teaches, and if they are truly sincere, I would invite a discussion of their challenges to my faith. Since I believe that the Christian Scriptures are utterly consistent with the laws of reason and logic, I am encouraged and even compelled to sit with those who might want to discuss the most important matters in life.

When people resort to mockery, ad hominem attacks, filthy language, and an unwillingness to honestly look at the evidence, there is little hope that a genuine conversation can occur. Christianity is not against reason and genuine dialogue with those who have questions, but instead invites it. After all, I serve a God who is willing to reason with sinners who are sincerely looking for truth: ““Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18, ESV)

Dear Christian, I would invite you as well to, “…in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

Boasting in the Lord Might Bite Back!

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” (Ezra 8:21–23, ESV)

Most of the time we find that our experiences of shame are due to our sin. Like Adam and Eve who recognized their nakedness after the Fall, shame is now an all too familiar part of the human experience. But in Ezra 8:21-23 we see a good outcome of shame–forced dependence upon God in a time of need.

Ezra was preparing to go back to Jerusalem to restore the temple after it had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Not only would the long trip be dangerous, but the danger would be amplified because their party would be large and they were to be laden with large amounts of gold and precious items of great value. Ezra would have preferred an armed escort by soldiers (the equivalent of our modern armored trucks) to make this journey, but he was ashamed because he had openly shared with the king the goodness and power of the Lord God. Since this was true, he shouldn’t need escorts, should he? How could he ask for protection by men when he has so openly confessed the power and might of God to protect His children?

What a predicament! The lesson here isn’t that God’s people should keep our testimony of the goodness and power of God under wraps–we actually need to become more vocal about it! Instead, we should do as Ezra did; he chose godly men to accompany him in fasting and prayer to implore the Lord to protect them as they knew He could do. The shame Ezra felt wasn’t in boasting, it was in his desire to live as if what he said about God wasn’t true and yet being forced to live by that truth or be ashamed at taking back what he said about his God.

Let us be abundant in our praise and glorying in the works of the Lord. And perhaps as a side effect we will find ourselves “forced” into living as if our great God is as great as we claim. Now wouldn’t that be something!

The Fool’s Dilemma (weekend repost)

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

Even though the fool says in is heart that there is no God, his claim is contrary not only to the facts, but his raging against the God that he says does not exist shows that he does not believe his own words.

Read the rest of the post here: The Fool’s Dilemma