My Way
June 18, 2007
Dear Friends,
Frank Sinatra made famous the song “My Way.” In this classic hit song, he croons,
- For what is a man, what has he got?
- If not himself, then he has naught.
- To say the things he truly feels;
- And not the words of one who kneels.
- The record shows I took the blows -
- And did it my way!
In a sharp contrast to these lyrics, the Bible says “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Pr. 14:12)
I readily admit this tendency in myself. If I was put in God’s place, I would not do things the same way the He does them. In my world, Job’s three friends would be right; good things would happen to good people and bad things would happen to bad people. In my world, war, disease, evil and other results of our cursed world would cease. Righteousness would prevail (or at least my sense of righteousness.)
We can all breath a sigh of relief that I am not working in God’s place. While I mentally argue with God’s handling of matters, I also recognize without question that His ways are vastly superior to my own even if I don’t fully understand why He does what He does. It is a part of human nature to question God. Righteous men have engaged in this exercise including Job and the prophet Habakkuk. It is seemingly unavoidable as part of the family of man. God even seems to make allowance for a little of this foolishness on our part.
It seems to me that in this field of thought we can work on two general assumptions. First, we can assume that God knows what He is doing. While this might seem ridiculously obvious, as we have said, a lot of us seem to think He needs our help. We worry so much about God’s job – who is going to live, who is going to die, how God will judge the righteous and the wicked and so on. They say the definition of a fanatic is someone who does what God would do if He had all the facts. We don’t want to be a fanatic.
The prophet Habakkuk questioned God and concluded with what is to me one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture when he said:
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab. 3:17,18)
Habakkuk realized that famine was God’s business. Because it was God doing His job perfectly, Habakkuk would rejoice in it.
The second general assumption is this regard is that God has left us a good, solid blueprint for living in the Bible. This is God’s love letter to us; a sort of insider’s guide to the universe. When we try to do it our way rather that God’s way, we are driving blind on a winding, dead-end road. God is not messing with us with His commands, but this is the loving instructions of our Creator that are definitely in our best interest.
Ironically, one of the people who really seem to have finally understood this was the post-insanity Nebuchadnezzar. He writes:
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride. (Daniel 4:35-37 NASB)
Have a great week,
Kyle Tucker
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