June 30: Of Engine Parts and Angina, of Choice and Consequence

2 Kings 17:1-18:12

Acts 20:1-38

Psalm 148:1-14

Proverbs 18:6-7

Everyone's heard some version of that story.  Guy decides he can take the engine of his car apart.  So he does, and after he puts it back together, he has a few extra parts left.  He doesn't know what they do, but figures it doesn't matter, because he cranks the engine, and it starts.  Until he tries to turn the engine off, and it won't.

The guy could've avoided the angina (a deliciously appropriate term which Merriam-Webster defines as "a disease marked by spasmodic attacks of intense suffocative pain") had he asked for expert help.  But armed with what he deemed were only the best of intentions, he thought he knew better, and as with all choices, his had consequences.

So many people today insist things are different, things have changed, things have evolved.  Among the many things I know to still be true, one stands forward: actions we choose (however well meaning) have consequences we cannot refuse.  

Helicopter parents are realizing this, as they see the children they sought to protect from the harshness of the world ill-equipped to handle the challenges of adulthood.  A former Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is realizing this, as he sees a change in policy he implemented now being used against his own party.   I am certain that Mr. Reid and the aforementioned parents had the best of intentions when they made their choices.  Nonetheless…

You know who likely also had the best of intentions?  The Israelites and their kings.  They couldn't get to the temple so they set up high places - better to worship than not, right?  They intermingled with unbelievers so they embraced their pagan practices as well - better to get along than not, right?  

The thing is, they were entitled to make their choices.  However, they weren't entitled to choose the consequences.  And so, when they "worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, 'You shall not do this'", and when they refused to repent when "the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and seers: 'Turn from your evil ways'", "the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence."  And apart from His protection the Israelites suffered the consequences of their well intentioned choices - attack, defeat, exile, suffering.  How very different from Hezekiah, who "trusted in the Lord", who "held fast to the Lord and did not stop following Him".  And "the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook."

Father, mold us into Hezekiahs.  Remind us that our actions have consequences we cannot choose, and that good intentions are no replacement for obedience.  And in so doing, help us to spare ourselves the angina.