Lessons Learned

When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.  For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.”  So from the time they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.  Exodus 33:4-6

The worst grounding I ever got was in the Summer of 1981.  It was the end of my Sophomore year in high school, and I was so looking forward to the many things me and my friends were going to do.  Bike rides, basketball in the backyard, and talking with girls were all on the agenda.  So, I came into this time in my life with a pretty big chip on my shoulder.  So much so that I thought I could talk to an adult like I was their equal when they asked me to take out the garbage.  “Why don’t you take out the garbage,” I said to my mom’s friend.  Big mistake!  My mother would make sure I learned a lesson from that.  She grounded me during that summer … for a month!!!  The only joy I would have would be my birthday and listening to Detroit Tigers baseball on the radio in my room.  A couple of things came out of that.  First, I grew to love a Hall of Fame broadcaster named Ernie Harwell as he was my only friend that talked to me most of that summer.  Second, I never was disrespectful to an adult again.  It’s a lesson I never forgot.  It’s a wonder that people used to compliment my mom. “Your son is so kind and courteous,” they would say.  If they only knew 😊

In our relationships with God, it is often at our lowest point that we show our greatest understanding of who He is.  Today, we are into the moment after Moses had punished the people for sinning against God.  The punishment was that those Israelites who stood with God had to kill those that chose not to.  This included relatives and neighbors; three thousand in all.  You want to talk about making tough choices?  It had to be incredibly painful to do what was asked of them.  Being honest, I guess listening to Ernie Harwell was pretty light in comparison to this, but I digress.  So, in the aftermath they stopped wearing jewelry and fine clothes because God told Moses to tell them.  No hesitation.  No deviations from the plan.  As stated, “they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.”  That was a pretty dramatic shift from previously where in Exodus 32:6 it spoke of their worship of the golden calf noting, “The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”  Thus, the rather subdued Israelites now disdained anything that harkened to that dark moment.  Giving up jewelry and fine clothes was a reminder to never go back to that life again.  The many things God had done to earn give them freedom was not yet enough for them to be obedient.  But following a false God and having to slaughter their brethren clearly had the desired impact that they would not veer against God again.  It was this low point that drove them to be a people truly intent on following God and His laws.  I once wrote that God had to drive me down to my knees where I would say to Him, “God, I have no place else to go but to you,” and then He made a way for me.  We can always sing praise on God when things are going well and everything is in order.  But it is when things are bad and our character is broken down where we truly find God, and it is there we both submit to His will and follow Him.

God wants us to grow in our relationship with Him.  More times that not, it is with love, grace, and appreciation.  But sometimes, we must endure some hard times to truly see His glory.  Tom Hanks’s character in the movie ‘A League of Their Own’ summarizes dealing with difficult times in a great way.  When questioned about the difficulties in the game of baseball, he said, “It’s supposed to be hard.  If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.  The hard … is what makes it great.”  Let us remember the hard times where God showed His light brightest in our lives.  What do you remember about your relationship with God in your most trying times?  How can that inspire you to a closer relationship with Him?  My prayer is that we are humbled by God’s grace in those lessons learned.  Amen.