March 10: The Deadly Combination of Fear and Good Intentions

Numbers 14:1-15:16

Mark 14:53-72

Psalm 53:1-6

Proverbs 11:4

I used to wonder "what were they thinking?  How could the Sanhedrin not known that Jesus was the Savior?  How could Peter have not known that Jesus would have taken care of him - that he didn't need to deny Him?  How could the 40 (excluding Joshua and Caleb) not known the God who had parted the Red Sea would have protected them against the giants of the promised land?"  This morning part of the answer came to me: they were blinded by their fear and their good intentions.  

1.  The thirty eight were scared, and sought to protect the Israelites from what they feared was an overwhelming enemy.  And the fear and the good intentions overrode whatever memory they had of the God Who had thrown plague after plague upon the Egyptians, Who had parted the Red Sea, and given them water, bread and meat in a desert where none was to be found.  

2..  Peter wanted to preserve himself - you can almost hear his thoughts: "I'm the only one that's been able to stay this close to Jesus - I can't be arrested!  I would suffer, and to what purpose?  Then what good would I be?"  

3.  And the Sanhedrin - well, perhaps they, like the rest of Israel, were looking to survive under Roman rule till the arrival of a military and political messiah that would guarantee an earthly victory.  And they feared the what the Romans might do if they heard of this man, so different from what they thought the king would be, claiming to be the King of the Jews.   

I've restarted reading a book my father recommended, called "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges.  It talks about "confronting the sins we tolerate".  The very first respectable sin it discusses, in chapter 7, is "Ungodliness".  It is neither wickedness nor unrighteousness (which Paul distinguished it from in Romans 1:18).  The author defines ungodliness as "living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God".  This was the thirty eight, whose fear of the inhabitants of the Promised Land made them forget their dependence on God (and, consequently, God's promise to give them the land).  They thought it would be up to them to defeat the enemy.  This was true of Peter, who thought more of his own safety, with little or no thought to the truth about his relationship with Jesus.  And this was true of the Sanhedrin, whose thoughts appear to have been of the earthly and the political, who appeared to have done little to see how Jesus's life and ministry reconciled with the prophecies about the Messiah.  

This is also very true of me.  How often do I justify my actions with good intentions and fear, even when they relegate God and my relationship with Him to second, third, or fourth place in my life?  How often has it been more important for me to rush to catch my train, forsaking my prayer time when I get up late?  How often have I demanded diligence and hard work of myself and my children, not because He asked for it, nor for His glory, but simply because it seemed the right thing to do for someone who wanted to get somewhere in life?  And how often have I told the off-color joke, how often have a joined in merriment at someone's expense, how often have I shared in the impolite conversation about the opposite sex - all to get along and get ahead?

Fear and good intentions - such powerful motivators for action, such difficult habits to break because they seem so deceptively good and innocent.  Father, I pray You reveal to me when I act without regard for You, for who You are, and for what You might want.  Rather than have good intentions and fear guide my actions, place upon me Your hoke, that I might walk Your paths alone, and by Your guidance alone.