When God Gets Angry

Canyons, deserts, coastlines, plains, downs, hills, mountains, cliffs, crags, bluffs . . .  As I journeyed through widely varied terrain recently, I was struck by the awe-inspiring beauty of even the most forbidding and untamed landscapes.  In the days of Noah, God displayed His wrath against sin in a truly violent fashion with a world-wide flood.  Yet even in this terrifying revelation of anger, God was masterfully creative.  Whatever the world may have been before the flood, it was transformed by this raging catastrophe into a vast gallery of breathtaking scenes carved and sculpted to monumental perfection.

Why a flood?  Why didn't God just send a plague to destroy all the wicked people and leave the earth the way He originally created it?  And why do we actually like the "revised version" so much if it's a destruction of what we were made for?  God displayed His holiness in the flood -- He hates sin so much that He had to purge the earth itself of it, and a flood was certainly the most practical way to do it.  God also showed His awesome power through the flood, creating reminders everywhere of how majestic He is.  Never again would anyone be able to miss the fact that God's power is infinitely superior to man's.  The power to shape the earth so dramatically in endless variety is a power to be feared!  Perhaps God knew that man needed the limits that the redesigned earth would impose -- mountain passes definitely slow people down, even today.  The obstacles that the flood created serve to control the spread of wickedness so that the unchecked corruption of Noah's day may not reoccur on that scale.

God designed us for grandeur of the kind that the flood brought about.  Though they came about as a result of sin, we respond to such things as mountains and canyons because they are intrinsically beautiful and good.  They teach us of God's character, they humble us, they lift our hearts.  Through His response to sin, God gave us a great gift.  In destroying, He created, in hate of sin, He showed love for man, and as the ark shows us, in wrath, He showed mercy.  He still does the same today in the lives of His children -- He will destroy our sin, often violently, and recreate our hearts to display more of Him.  Sin is always ugly, but God in His wisdom turns it into a great tool for His glory.  After the flood, He will bring mountains out of the waves!

God's anger toward sin is a vital part of who He is.  He could not be God without it, not in Noah's day, not today.  And two thousand years ago, God again took out His wrath for a wicked world, not in another flood, but in the death of His Son, Jesus.  The earth still bears her scars, Jesus still bears His.  And they are both unspeakably beautiful.

It's All Good

And what adventure it has been!  In the past few weeks, I have:

. . . Seen the Grand Canyon from the air

. . . Prayed for favor with border guards

. . . Visited Mexico to participate in the ministry of FFHM

. . . Worshiped in Spanish

. . . Made dozens of duct tape bracelets

. . . Built new relationships and improved old ones

. . . Prayed for rain and seen it come

. . . Gotten lost in Mexico

. . . Been rescued by a “Harley-riding angel”

. . . Gotten out of Mexico to get stranded in San Diego

. . . Gotten out of San Diego to America’s Midwest

. . . Met the cutest cousin ever for the first time ever

. . . Explored the ruins of a historic house

. . . Been “on tour” at Mt. Rushmore’s stage

. . . Stood by an overheated truck on top of a mountain

. . . Seen a moose in Yellowstone

. . . Found no room in the inn

. . . Seen a handful of bolt halves and an axle sticking through the hub

. . . Been rescued by a “pot-smoking angel” mechanic

. . . Come home humbled by God’s provision

Through all the culture differences, beautiful scenery, and unexpected delays, God has showed Himself exclusively good and tremendously in control. The clear blessings and the “mishaps” were all opportunities to see Jesus and praise Him. It’s all good because He is good! Amen!

You are good, and do good;

Teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:68

Going on an Adventure

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:16-20

Before Jesus returned to Heaven, He sent His followers on the greatest adventure of all time: we call it the Great Commission. Most Christians know it well, but few actually follow it -- perhaps we need to take another look. What Christians usually have memorized is Jesus' words in verses 19-20, but the passage really starts before that. Let's get the backstory: a while before this moment, Jesus had given his disciples instructions to gather on a certain mountain away from their normal surroundings. This is the first step for us, too: we need to have such a relationship with Jesus that we will do the relatively small and easy things He asks of us without question. We need to get away from our everyday lives to a special place where we can be with Him and hear His voice.

And what happens when we get there? For the disciples, when they saw Jesus, they had no doubt about who He was. They couldn't help responding to Him with worship, but they still had other doubts. The word is also used of Peter when Jesus rescued him from his failed attempt to walk on water: "Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) It seems to me that after the first step of faith, we inevitably have a moment of wondering, "What on earth was I thinking? I can't do this!" And we're right. Doubt is a key element of any adventure because if we can handle it just fine, there's really nothing adventurous about it. The first step of following Jesus doesn't seem too hard, but once we realize what we've gotten ourselves into, doubt is natural.

But Jesus reassures His disciples and us, "All authority has been given to Me." In other words, He's in control; we don't have anything to worry about. We are right to doubt ourselves, but He is more than enough to compensate for our weakness. We can't go on our own authority, we go in response to His authority, knowing that all that exists is under His command. And His command for us is, "Go." Go down from the mountain, go out into the world, and keep going until you've reached all the nations with the gospel that has changed your life. You will never hear of anyone staying on an adventure. You have to go on an adventure. If you don't go, nothing will happen. For most of us, we will never make the effort to accomplish Jesus' commands, baptizing and teaching, unless we go somewhere -- across the street, at least. It takes active obedience, an effort of will on our part; hardly ever will the unsaved come to us.

Going is scary. It can make a mess of your plans and your comfortable life. You might lose friends. Chances are, you'll run off unprepared or meet up with trouble you don't feel at all ready for. But never fear, Jesus gives His simple reassurance once more: "I am with you always." If we say yes to the discomfort, the misunderstanding of others, the gigantic obstacles at every turn, He will be there every step of the way, even when we feel alone. Oh, He'll be there too if we decide to stay home, but we'll miss out on seeing Him do some amazing things. We'll miss out on Him guiding us through lessons that will make us stronger. We'll never know what kind of great adventure we might have had if we said yes and joined Him where He was working. And at the end? Yes, all His children will go home with Him, but only the ones who chose the adventure will take treasure with them. Are you going? I am!

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Psalm 139:7