Me, Veruka Salt and forgotten miracles

Today: Psalm 106-107

I don't know about you, but sometimes (even this year and throughout this project!), I've been a whiny brat child with God.

As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes I wonder if God sometimes sees me like the obnoxious Veruka Salt in the 1970s version of "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory." Veruka is the girl with the accent who says, "I want it now, Daddy!" over and over and over again (she wants an Oompa Loompa and an Everlasting Gobstopper and...well, pretty much everything!).

The problem with Veruka Salt (and me, too, at moments!) is that she forgets what she has...and what she's already been given. If Veruka could depict any people in the Bible, it would probably be the Israelites just after their exodus from Egypt. Take a look at this part of today's passage:

After our parents left Egypt,

they took your wonders for granted,

forgot your great and wonderful love.

They were barely beyond the Red Sea

when they defied the High God

—the very place he saved them!

—the place he revealed his amazing power!

He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot

—he paraded them right through!

—no one so much as got wet feet!

He saved them from a life of oppression,

pried them loose from the grip of the enemy.

Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors;

there wasn't a single survivor.

Then they believed his words were true

and broke out in songs of praise.

But it wasn't long before they forgot the whole thing,

wouldn't wait to be told what to do.

They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert,

provoked God with their insistent demands.

He gave them exactly what they asked for—

but along with it they got an empty heart.

The end of this passage stood out to me--"they got an empty heart." I don't know exactly what it means, but I'll take a guess. I don't think it's saying that God's heart toward the people was empty: God is always love. However, I think it may be saying that like Veruka Salt, the people of Israel developed an insatiable desire for more, more and more...without any gratitude for the blessings and miracles God had already given them. Sound familiar?

To me, this story depicts my own at moments...but also the lives of so many people (particularly in North America) who are consumers of God and His goodness. There's a fine line between trusting God for provision and blessings (a good thing) and becoming a needy brat child. The difference between the two is really a difference of the heart. God won't love you less if you're a mini-me Veruka--but your life and your heart will feel empty. To keep your heart full and to live a life that is full of love--you have to stay grateful and remember where every blessing comes from. Remember the miracles you've seen already and the gifts that are in your life every single day. Trust me--it's better than an Everlasting Gobstopper any day. :)

Tomorrow: Psalm 108-114

Blessings and curses

Today: Deuteronomy 28-29

Have you ever been cursed? Have you ever been blessed? What's the difference?

I know that these may be kind of strange questions, but in today's passage, Moses outlined blessings and curses for the Israelites tied to their obedience (or disobedience) to God. Here's an interesting part of the passage about curses:

God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness

down on everything you try to do

until you've been destroyed and there's nothing left of you—

all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me.
God will infect you with The Disease,

wiping you right off the land that you're going in to possess.
God will set consumption and fever and rash

and seizures and dehydration and blight and jaundice on you.

They'll hunt you down until they kill you.

Okay, I know this sounds pretty morbid (at least I didn't copy the text about cannibalism!), but a few things tied to this curse stood out to me--confusion and consumption. I think those two things really define the existence of may people in our world who don't have God--or even Christians who have forgotten what it means to really know and follow Him. If people don't grasp who God is and the fact that He has a purpose for their lives, it makes almost every part of life confusing. If they don't find contentment and hope in Him, they look for it in things or ideas--they become consumed with consuming so much that it becomes an unfillable void.

On the flip side, I love what this passage says about the blessings for those who live in obedience to God:

If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God,

and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today,

God, your God, will place you on high,

high above all the nations of the world.

All these blessings will come down on you

and spread out beyond you because you have responded

to the Voice of God, your God:

God's blessing inside the city,

God's blessing in the country;

God's blessing on your children,

the crops of your land,

the young of your livestock,

the calves of your herds,

the lambs of your flocks.

God's blessing on your basket and bread bowl;

God's blessing in your coming in,

God's blessing in your going out...

Tomorrow: Deuteronomy 30-31