Just in case!

I was listening to Tony Evans (if you have never heard him preach, I recommend you google him and get started! Very anointed in my opinion.) on the radio last night and I had such a revelation! He started chatting about some Old Testament times when the Israelites had started to worship other gods. Now, I have done lots of OT reading and I have to say, the times when this particular issue comes up always baffled me. Truly! It is mentioned in several places that the Hebrews would start to worship the gods of other people. Names such as Baal, Astarte, Bel, Dagon are mentioned in scripture. Here and there the Israelites would run to them for one reason or another and start to worship them.

I was so blown away by this time and time again. My initial thought would be...are you kidding me!! Good grief! After the whole Red Sea thing as well as all the other amazing, unexplainable things that only God can do, and seriously....other gods?? You could say I was shaking my head at what I considered their...narrow-mindedness, stupidity, etc. I never really understood what on earth was going through their minds. Until last night.

Scripture does not say that the Israelites completely began to disbelieve in God...it says they just began to worship other gods. Baal was a sort of fertility god. Fertility of people, land, crops, etc. You could say that these other gods were kinda like just in case gods. It may have gone something like this...."Weeelllllll, I still believe in my all powerful God but just in case, let me see what this other god is all about. It seems to be working for those Philistines. After all, I really want another baby and I really want this years crops to flourish. Saying a pray to someone else can't hurt. Right?"

Ouch!! Don't we do that same exact thing today?????? Don't we?? We might think along these lines, "Oh goodness, YES...I believe in the One True God, the Holy Trinity, etc but just in case, I need to make sure that I spend lots and lots of time and energy thinking and rethinking (maybe a bit of worrying) about my finances and making sure I have lots of money because if I don't take care of things, who will!" Or maybe something like this..."I need to make sure I have a very full, important career and spend lots of time on it. After all, it is my career that makes me feel needed, important, special, significant. God couldn't possibly do all that. Right? I know scripture says He can but just in case." Or how about these....1. God can't fill me like food does so when I feel down, I will run to the frig instead of my bible. 2. I need a huge pick-me-up and shopping does it for me! God can't make me feel that awesome. 3. If I just had a nicer home, a bigger home, a new car, a faster computer, blah, blah, blah...then I would be happy, satisfied, content, feel better, etc.

We too worship other gods just like those of the OT. For most of us, our "other gods" do not have names like we think of. Many of us confess our love for God in one breath and then behave in a way the very next moment that says we have other gods in our lives too. Our other gods have names like...Money, Self, Food, Shopping, STUFF, Career, Power, Worry, and the list goes on and on. Yikes.

I ask you my sisters, do you have any just in case gods? It is a big question that takes a mature person to truly look into their own heart and see if there are any "posers" in there. If can't find any, I would ask the Holy Spirit to help reveal them. If you think about it and decide you might have some just in case gods, I would refer you to Exodus 20:3,4. (just click the link)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2020&version=MSG

Many blessings!

PS...to all my dear sweet Catholic sisters....if you can't find your keys, who do you pray to for help? If you want to sell your house, who do you pray to for help? If you have a sick animal, who do you pray to for help? Just something to think about.