Happy New Year !
I hope you had a good New Year holiday. It seems that Jesus has delayed His return sufficient that we now have to write 2023 on our checks.
I’ve been thinking about what was really big for me personally last year. What stands out as I look back at it?
There are three things.
The first “big thing” was hitting the milestone of 50 years with Jesus. That happened in October. I’ll admit it makes me feel a little old to say that. Much more than my chronological age.
When I was a young boy and first knelt the knee to Jesus, I had no idea that it was the start of a 50 year journey. I didn’t know what was in store. Some of it has been hard. Some of it has been fun. All of it has been good.
The second thing that I think of was that I kept at reading the Bible cover-to-cover throughout the year. Moment of honesty: I didn’t read every day. There were entire stretches where I fell down pretty bad. What matters is that I didn’t give up. I kept coming back to it and opening God’s Word to see what He had written to me that day.
The final thing that really stands out to me was the most impactful Bible verse I studied. Early last year, my small group at church was going through the book of Genesis. It took us a looooong time to complete that one. Genesis has 50 chapters!
Just like with reading the Bible, I found amazing revelation in a completely familiar passage. Genesis 18:22-33.
It’s the story of God and Abraham “negotiating” about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra. God declared His intention: “I am going to destroy the cities.” Abraham, knowing his nephew Lot lived there came back with a counter offer: “If there are 50 righteous people there, will you spare it?”
Amazingly God didn’t call down lighting on Abraham’s head right then and there. He actually agreed!
Feeling emboldened (and enjoying that he still had a pulse), Abraham started negotiating in earnest. Finally he got down to 10 righteous people being grounds for saving the city. And God agreed.
I’ve always found that exchange mystifying. But as we studied that story, I received illumination of the most fantastic type.
Abraham was “negotiating” with God, using God’s own character as his argument. He knew that God was fully justified destroying the city if it was entirely populated with wicked people. Just go back and look at Genesis 6 to see what God thinks about the proliferation of wickedness.
But if there were righteous people in the city, and they were destroyed because of the wicked people, then God’s justice would have miscarried. It’s not good for God to punish the righteous because of the wicked. That would be a major failure of justice and God’s righteous character.
So Abraham was pointing out to God that according to His own character it would be wrong to destroy the city if there were 50 righteous people who would be destroyed along with it. And God agreed.
Spoiler alert… God knew the exact number of righteous people in the city. It was either 3 or 4. Lot, his wife (?) and his two daughters. So it was fine for Abraham to negotiate down to 10. God knew that wouldn’t change the decision.
But we see Abraham’s logic borne out when God had the angels tell Lot and his family to flee before the destruction came. Those few righteous people were not destroyed in God’s punishment.
This really came home for me because there is a direct connection to prayer. In talking to God (face to face in Genesis 18), Abraham is essentially praying. And He’s using God’s own glory to present his request (“save my nephew”).
The big question for me, and one I still wrestle with to this day is: How do I ask God for what I need or want and frame my ask in terms of who He is? How do I pray God’s character back to Him?
Abraham did it, and God 100% accepted the requests. God didn’t get mad at him. God didn’t ignore him. Each time God answered with a “Yes”.
As I continue to lead prayer at my church, I will dig into this application. It isn’t easy. It takes time and thought and practice. But for an entire year, it was the most important lesson I learned. Perhaps it will take me a decade to fully apply it to my life. If that happens, I will consider myself blessed indeed.
If I turn this back to you, how would you reply? What in 2022 stands out to you as a highlight or a mountain top. Or perhaps it was a dark valley you went through and learned something about yourself or God.
Reply to this email and let me know. I’d love to hear your story.
It doesn’t have to be big or profound or flashy. The fact that it stands out to you is what matters. And the way it impacted you is what matters.
Happy New Year. I hope to hear from you soon.
Dennis
