Saturday, May 11, 2019

May 11: Of the Futility of Compromise


1 Samuel 10:1-11:15
John 6:43-71
Psalm 107:1-43
Proverbs 15:1-3

"Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead.  And all the men of Jabesh said to him "make a treaty with us and we will be subject to you.""

The people of Jabesh Gilead were facing a difficult siege.  With it, starvation, and likely conquest.  So they thought to negotiate their way to a better situation, by offering to compromise.  Survival for subjugation.   It sounded like a good idea at the time.

"But Nahash the Ammonite replied, "I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.""

So it turned out it wasn't such a good deal after all.  When the enemy saw they were willing to compromise, it demanded even more.  

This happened centuries ago, but it is still true today.  The world demands we compromise.  It insists we reject God's order.  It requires that we deny His existence, His sovereignty.  And sometimes we are faced with difficult consequences, and it seems so much easier to compromise.  Just a little, we tell ourselves.  It's for a good reason, we tell ourselves.  What's it going to matter, we ask.  

The problem is, when we start to compromise, we find the enemy demands ever more.  And having capitulated once, it becomes harder to refuse the next demand.  And the one after that.  

But what are we to do when faced with failure, with devastation, with suffering?  The people of Jabesh Gilead were faced with an impossible situation - for them.  But it wasn't impossible for God, who sent Saul and his army to defeat the enemy from whom they thought there was no escape. 

Father when the world threatens us with what seems to be the insurmountable, and demands we compromise our relationship with You to avoid the hardship, remind us that the world will not stop, and it is far better for us to count on you for our salvation.  

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