Growing up, I dreamed of getting married and having children—three boys and two girls. I lined up my dolls in chairs and taught them, pretending they were my kids. I wrote in more journals than I ever kept up with.

I tried to see my future husband as blonde, but the vision always held a dark-haired groom. I drew up house plans. I hoped we’d have good friends. I tried very hard to be “very good,” so these dreams would come true.

And here’s what happened:  I got married to a dark-haired man and have three boys and two girls.  I homeschooled all of them, most until high school when my math skills ran out.  I’m still writing in journals—you’re reading one now.  We live in a house I designed 27 years ago.  We have friends who love us.

It wasn’t because I was good at being “very good.”  I was actually very bad at it.  I had trouble with marriage and parenting, with homeschooling and house building.  But I still got the dream anyway.  Who gives away heart’s desires to the undeserving?  

There’s only One person I know. Today’s passages tell more about him.

Exodus 16-17

In all of the encounters of these two chapters, God provides what his people need, whether food or water or protection from enemies. From taking care of their most basic needs to their most threatening enemy, over and over, God’s the one who routinely rescues them. As far as I can tell, what they do is routinely grumble and complain about him, Ex 16:2-11; 17:1-16.

God can handle our hard words when we’re in trouble. The problem with Israel is they talk behind his back. David complains quite a lot when he’s down-and-out, but he brings his complaints to God, “I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble,” Ps 142:2 NIV. Big difference.

Why does God put up with fault-finding whiners like the Israelites? After all the miracles he’s done to free them, they keep complaining about food and water? Don’t get me wrong, being hungry and thirsty is a definite hardship. But compared to parting the sea, asking for water is not a big deal. None of them think to simply ask God for what they need. They’d rather talk about how he’s failing them.

I keep coming back to this question as I read through the Bible: why does God bother with fickle, forgetful, willful people? And the answer I keep finding is this: It’s because of who God is—God is love, 1 Jn 4:8, Ps 145:8 NIV.

God can’t stop loving any more than he can stop breathing. Love is who he is. Love is what he does. To be in a relationship with him means that he won’t walk off and leave you, no matter what. He’s always ready for a heart-to-heart. He rejoices over you, and he works for your best good. He died to make you his, and he longs for you to know him as your provider, savior, lover, Ps 55:22, La 3:22, Na 1:7, Ze 3:17, Ro 8:28, He 13:5-6, 1 Pe 3:18.

No kidding.

But God is also holy, as holy as he is loving.  How can a holy God love people who keep doing their own thing and distrusting him, expecting life to be easy and blaming him when it’s not? Because of Jesus, who died to pay for these sins between us, so we could know God as our Good and Loving Father, Ps 99:9, Is 6:3, Ro 5:8, 1 Jn 2:2 NIV.

Turns out, all of the provisions in these chapters point to Jesus—the Living Water, the Bread of Life, the One Who Was Lifted Up the way Moses’ staff was so sin and death are dead to us. It’s not by Israel’s good behavior that water was found or bread was provided or victory was had over Amalek. In every incidence, God was the Hero despite their behavior. God gives what we don’t deserve because of his love through Jesus, Ro 5:8, 8:39 NIV.

And this is good news for all of us. We’re about as capable of solving our issues and meeting our own needs as those wandering Jews in the wilderness. It’s not pulling up our bootstraps and fixing ourselves and our troubles that God wants from us, anyway.

It’s simple faith and trust in him. It’s obedience to do what he says. This is the two-step he’s after—trusting and obeying. These are the lessons God taught in the desert. These are the lessons God still teaches us in our various wastelands and wanderings wherever we are. Will we learn to trust and obey him? De 28:2; Ps 22:4, 115:9; Lk 11:28.

I like how the Bible always shows us who’s messing up—who’s not trusting or obeying, whether the leader or the low-life. Moses loses his patience a few times; the people lose it a lot. Some don’t follow the rules about gathering food. But this doesn’t stop God from keeping his promise and doing his part. The sun still rises, manna still falls, water still flows, enemies get taken out.

God’s grace keeps coming despite our messing up and needing to start again. The point isn’t perfect trust and obedience. The point is simply showing up and depending on him to work these things in us. The sweetness of this relationship warms me this morning–God-is-God and we get to enjoy him.

Nobody could dream up a God like this.

Matthew 22:1-22

Jesus says fitness for God’s kingdom isn’t found in people.  It’s a gift, like the wedding clothes provided for guests, a host’s generous touch at weddings back then, commentary.

When the king comes into the banquet, he spots one person who refuses to wear them. This guest thinks his clothes are nice enough, but he’s shown the door and invited to use it. Nothing but the king’s garment will do at the wedding banquet in God’s kingdom, Mt 22:11-13.

The Pharisees keep rejecting the “clothing” Jesus offers them, which is faith in him in order to be right with God. They insist they can be good enough for God without Jesus. They wear their goodness like clothes and refuse to put on the goodness Jesus offers. And rather than taking this wedding story to heart, they cook up a scheme to trick Jesus into speaking against Rome, Mt 22:15-17.

God’s plan to save includes anybody and everybody who shows up, but it also requires us to have on the robe he provides—one dipped in the blood of the Lamb. “Many are invited; only a few make it,” Jesus said, by way of explanation, Mt 22:8-14 MSG.

Nobody could invent a Savior like this, one who’s open to all people, “good and bad, regardless,” yet holds a hard line against elitist suck-ups. Jesus sees through the flattery of his enemies to the trap they set for him, and he leaves them scratching their heads over how he avoids it, Mt 22:21-22 MSG.

Nobody could imagine a plan to save and a Savior like this.

Psalm 27

David asks God for “one thing, only one thing,” and what he asks for is surprising. His relationship with God is so rich and satisfying, that the one thing he asks for is this:  that it would continue the rest of his life.  David wants to “live with [God] in his house my whole life long.  I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet,” Ps 27:4 MSG.

David’s found God’s house to be “the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, the perfect getaway…” He goes there often to sing his heart out. There’s nowhere he’d rather be, and no one he’d rather be with, Ps 27:5-9 MSG.

How do we develop a relationship with God like this, one that satisfies our deepest desires for the rest of our lives? I’m guessing it’s by doing what David did—suffering a great deal and finding God to be his hideout. 

Hang out time with God is essential. The more we do it, the more we want to. The more we invest in him, the more we get from him, and our time with him becomes the best part of our day. David agrees: “Stay with God and take heart. Don’t quit.”  And in case we missed it the first time, he repeats, “Stay with God,” Ps 27:14 MSG.

Nobody could invent a hideaway like this.

Prayer

God, the getaways with you, the clean up, too, the saving you keep offering despite my wandering…. You are the God I could never dream up.  Thank you for your open door and for being glad to see me.  Nobody loves me like you do.

In Jesus’ name.

Proverbs 6:20-26

Take your father’s and mother’s advice. It protects and guides you. It puts you on the path to the good life. Beware the hooker who says she can be bought for a meal. She will eat your lunch.

For more about God’s holy love, see November 19

Passages from Exodus, Matthew, Psalms, and Proverbs are selected for today in The Yearly Bible.