At the foot of Lookout Mountain last week, I followed the posted detour and found more than spectacular spring scenery to distract me.  I found a large rock inches from the one lane road I was driving on, and it vaulted me up and over so that the sky tilted wonky in my windshield.  

BAM. I landed with a jolt, still holding the piece of chocolate I’d reached for seconds before. I jumped out to see if I still had 4 tires holding. The man in the car behind me got out, too, and asked if I was OK. My voice was strangely loud as I hollered, “I’m fine, just checking my tires!”

“You gotta lotta air,” he commented. “Sure you’re alright?”

I was sure, and my new tires were fine, thank you, Lordy, and I wondered if I’d be able to make the meeting I was also sure to be late for. “I think I’m good,” I yelled, too loudly again as adrenaline took over. “That rock doesn’t look that big does it? But it sure did a number…”

“Oh, that’s not the rock…,” he said pointing 10 yards behind the little one I indicated. “…it’s this one over here.” This one looked big enough to climb on. “Something’s lying under your car. I wouldn’t move it if I were you. Need a wrecker.”

He was right–something dark and twisted lay under my Highlander. I took photos and phoned my husband. But just as I was calling a wrecker, an old friend showed up. She was under my car in a moment, pulling on something. A biker stopped to help out.

“It’s your bumper,” Peg shouted from the asphalt. “I think if you back up, you can clear it. I’ll toss it in back.” And just like that, she did it. With a little packaging tape wrapped around the parking lights, I was only 10 minutes late for my appointment.

I’ve had several close calls lately, but this one actually woke me up. That rock could’ve been Nathan on his bike or a child or a telephone pole that put me 6 feet under.

Wake up calls come. Will we listen?

Deuteronomy 32

After 40 years, they’re still at square one. The lesson God’s been teaching Israel since they left Egypt is the same one he’s still trying to get through their hardheads: “I am God…have no gods besides me.” It’s the first commandment, but it still hasn’t sunk in yet, Ex 20:2-3 NIV.

God tells Moses what’ll happen as soon as he dies: Israel will rebel and take up with pagan gods. They’ll forget their God and break the covenant they just made to obey him, so God has a wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee song for them, only the title is more like, “Wake Up and Smell the Coffin,” because things will go really rotten, De 31:16-18.

God has two reasons for writing the song–to remind them who they are and to remind them who he is. When the day comes that they’re tired of their lives without him, “this song will be with them as a witness to who they are and what went wrong.” When they hit rock bottom, and they will, they’ll have the words of the song to guide them back to him, De 31:19-21 MSG.

God is eager to get the most important thing there is to know on earth worked into the lyrics, “Do you see it now? Do you see that I’m the one? Do you see that there’s no other god beside me?” Here’s the first commandment all over again, because it’s the most important one, De 32:39 MSG.

Just before Moses climbs the mountain to die, he teaches Israel the song, and it begins, not with how they’re about to mess up, but with how good God is—how he’s cared for them, how he’s been “a God you can depend upon…a straight arrow God…your Father who created you, who gave you a place on Earth.” God woos them at the start, De 32:1-14 MSG.

It’s a hopeful song with a happy ending, but God doesn’t pull any punches as it goes along. If they persist in going their own way, they’ll face serious consequences.  God will sell them out, and he spells out how exactly, but he won’t leave them for good.  He’ll judge them, but with compassion. And after he chastens them, he’ll punish their persecutors, De 32:15-42. 

In the end, God receives his people’s praises, because he’ll keep his promise to be there for them. God never rejects forever–that alone is worth praising. And when they turn back to him, he’ll welcome them home again. This is the story of the prodigal son, only with different lyrics, De 32:43; Lk 15:11-24.

I’ve been wondering since I started writing this why it’s so important to God to remind them that he’s the only God there is. I mean, you either believe it or you don’t. Why keep putting it out there? But I realize that it’s because it’s so important for them. It’s the best news for me, too, and here’s why:

Because God is God, I’m not, so I can stop trying so hard. I can get down off my soapbox. I can admit I don’t know stuff. I can stop trying to control the world and everybody in it. I can relax about being right or being liked–God’s the big deal, not me.

I can stop chasing other people and plans and places. I can trust that God has the best life for me worked out, and it’ll be better than I can dream up. I can listen to and even love others–and stop making life all about me.

But here’s the best comfort for me in believing that God is God today: one of our kids is on my mind a lot more than the others. Some days, I’m consumed with fear for his future, given where he is now. But God’s not undone by his choices like I am.

The same God who called Israel, disciplined them, and received their repentant praise when they finally woke up to his call, will do the same for our beloved son. He’s the saving God, after all, and he did it for me. One day, God will receive his grateful praise–and mine, too.

Because God is God, his wake-up call takes you to repentance and grace. Because God is God, praise is always the endgame.

Luke 12:35-59

“Making nice” is the southern way.  It’s not making waves, but being gracious, even if you have to lie a little to do it.  But this isn’t Jesus’ way, and it certainly wasn’t God’s in the song he gave Moses.  God’s about telling hard truth, shaking things up, letting people feel uncomfortable, so they’ll turn to him and really live. 

Jesus says how you live is serious business. Be sober and sober minded. Pay attention. Live as if his return is imminent, because it is. If you think you’ve got plenty of time to live it up and grab everything you want, think again. That kind of life gets booted in the end, Lk 12:35-48.

Jesus came to “start a fire on earth,” to pit families against one another if need be, to turn things upside down and right side up. “I’ve come to disrupt and confront!” he said, not to make nice, Lk 12:49-53 MSG.

We’ve got things we must say to our son. I want God to find me on the job, not being afraid to step up. I want to embrace the truth and speak it in love. I keep trying to soften the wake-up calls for him, but when I do, I’m getting in the way.

A wake-up call takes you to honest conversation.

Psalm 78:56-64

This psalm says more about the idolatry that Moses’ song hinted at in Deuteronomy. God’s people “refuse to do anything God tells them,” they have sex with prostitutes and call it worship, they’re worse than their parents “if that’s possible,” Ps 78:56-58 MSG.

So God walked out and left them. He let them “go to the dogs.” He let go of them in battle, and they got killed off. Soldiers and priests alike were massacred, and their widows didn’t shed a tear. That’s hardhearted, and that’s what sin does, Ps 78:59-64 MSG.

Then God got up “like someone roused from deep sleep, shouting like a drunken warrior,” and stuck it to his enemies. He chose David to lead them, a shepherd who would care for them. David’s “good heart made him a good shepherd; he guided the people wisely and well.” Ps 78:65-72 MSG.

King David is meant here, but I can’t help but think of David’s descendant, Jesus, the only truly Good Shepherd “with integrity of heart,” who guides his people perfectly wisely and well. Lest we forget, David was a murdering adulterer, though he repented and was forgiven. But Jesus is the Shepherd-Savior who actually brings the sheep all the way home to their Master, where they belong, Ps 78:72 NIV.

When we ignore his wake up calls, God removes his tender mercies and lets us face the music. But he doesn’t lose touch. He knows what’s up. All our troubles are designed to bring us home, following the Shepherd, our Savior-Friend.

A wake-up call takes you to God himself, where you find forgiveness and welcome.

Prayer

God, I’m seeing the lengths you go to, to get our attention. You’re not deterred by our suffering—you hurl us into it. You let us go off on our own, knowing we’ll wise up in the pigpens we find ourselves in. Help me to parent like you do. Make my heart soft. Make my words true. Make me like you.

In Jesus’ name.

Proverbs 12:23-24

Wisdom doesn’t advertise itself; but a fool’s endless chatter makes him obvious. Hard work frees you, while lazy bones feel locked up.

Passages from Deuteronomy, Luke, Psalms, and Proverbs are selected for today in The Yearly Bible.