This week, I found out I'm getting something of a promotion, and at least a change in my responsibilities to more strategic efforts. I didn't necessarily ask for it; and after I understood what was being asked of me, I wasn't sure if I actually wanted it. Don't get me wrong. At the core, I'm very excited by the opportunity. My responsibilities have increased, and I'm being asked to deliver some very critical and risky, yet exciting, projects in the organization. However, it comes with a very real, necessary cost. I'm going to have to be away from my home and wife - who I happen to like being with very much - for (on the order of) 2 days a week, nearly every week for the next several months. It's going to boil down to only 1 overnight away per week - which in the grand scheme is nothing compared to even some of our friends, but A) its not like I'm working for a mission (i.e. Mzinga is a for-profit company, not a para-church organization) and B) that is one more night then Cre and I would prefer. Overall, its not that bad, but we've both gotten so we don't really sleep that well when the other is away. (I'm thankful we've grown accustom to one another...)
Anyway, after discussion, consideration, prayer, and counsel from trusted friends and family, we decided that God had opened this door and we were going to give it a shot. We're trusting God for the outcomes and next moves... or at least trying to.
So last night I'm praying about this issue and Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind. I'm very careful to ascribe things to God in a judicious way. In this case, I'm fairly confident He was in it (Proverbs 22:6 might have something to say about that as well - thanks Mom & Dad).
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in Yahweh with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Anyway, for the last 24 hours, I've been turning that word over in my head. At first, it had its usual effect, which sounds something like, "Don't try to figure it all out b/c you can't. Instead, trust God, do what's right, and roll with the punches... in every part of life, even at work." It's a good word, and one that I continually commit to memory and then promptly forget...
However tonight, while mowing my lawn, a new thought occurred to me: What the heck does "acknowledging" God in my "ways" mean?!?
A few years ago, I had the privilege of studying under Dave Dorsey. Those that know him know that you cannot go through his OT classes without understanding road metaphors and literary forms in the Hebrew Bible. Proverbs 3:6 is a great example of both. That word "ways" is the Hebrew word derek. If you've driven around Israel and read the street signs, you know that derek = street or road, so it looks like we've got a road metaphor. The second word "paths" is the Hebrew word orah, which until tonight, I wasn't familiar with. As best I can tell, its a simile to derek, though it does have an interesting use in the book Job, where its translated "seige ramp". Anyway, my point is that the verse is a poetic repetition, meant to emphasize the author's point. In the case of the writer of Proverbs, he's trying to convince his audience of the benefits of following Yahweh's "path" - which is wisdom. Read simplistically, one might translate verse 6:
In all your roads know/acknowledge Yahweh, and He will make your road favorable (or straight)
In the Old Testament, "straight" roads imply roads that are flat, straight, safe, or generally easier to traverse. In a world where you walk everywhere, a favorable road can make all the difference in the journey, so what the author is saying is that "acknowledging" God is a very good, beneficial thing. The implication is that God's way is not just the altruistically moral or virtuous way, but the best way, the straightest way to get where you should be headed, and the wisest way (Note that the Bible defines wisdom as what is best for us in the long run).
The word translated "acknowledge" is the Hebrew verb yada. It occurs 947 times in the Old Testament and is translated into everything from "having sex" to "being close friends" to "apply" and "understand", but the most frequent way its translated is "know". So what does it mean to know or acknowledge - to yada - God on your road (derek)? More generally, what does it mean to to yada anyone on your derek?
First, I don't think its about prayer. There's no textual evidence to make me think the author meant "talk to God on the road", though that is a good thing to do. I'm also pretty convinced its not about adapting the "Post-game Interview Preface for Christian Athletes". You know that one where a wide receiver says something like, "I'd like to thank God/Jesus Christ for giving me the strength to catch 12 passes for 150 yards and 2 TD's." (that's 39 fantasy football points in the Onside Kick League for those keeping score at home) I'm sure many of them are sincere and God appreciates them getting the word out - free media and all that, but I doubt that's what the author of Proverbs was going for by "acknowledging" God.
So what else? Does it mean to pay Him respect or homage? If so, how? Is it about representing Him well on the journey? Is it simply saying that we should walk as He would walk / do as He would do on the road? Is it possible that the road where we "know" Him is His road (i.e. an obvious conclusion like "if you walk the road God wants you to walk, your path will be made straight... Duh")? More to the point, whatever it does mean, what does/can it practically look like to do this?
I asked Cre this question and she said something to the affect of the following, "I acknowledge my parents everyday, in the way I live my life. I am a reflection of them, and I journey through life reflecting that knowledge of who they are and who they raised me to be."
That sounded pretty astute to me - especially since she was tired and wanted me to let her go to bed. Still, I'm not 100% convinced yet - thus my post.
So what do you think? Give me some feedback - in person or in the blog comments. If you need me, I may be in Boston, trusting that God is making my road straight.
Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango
6 comments:
It strikes me that "acknowledge" is a pretty weak translation for yada when compared to its translations elsewhere (sex, close friendship, understanding, etc.). Those other translations all connote an increased level of intimacy in some way, and our English word "acknowledge" is a decidedly non-intimate term.
Beyond that, consider the previous phrase: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..." That's no distant acknowledgment. That's a full-bore, all out devotion that is being referenced.
In this light, perhaps the verse should be rendered: Whatever you are doing, continue to seek to know YHWH more and better, and He will make your paths straight.
It's not about giving God props or representing Him well or even evangelizing... those are all just actions, when you get down to it. God is not concerned with your actions so much as He is concerned with YOU. The kicker is, of course, that if you are focused on knowing God in a more and more intimate way, then the rest of those actions will fall in place anyway.
And I would go even further to the possible conclusion that if you are focusing on your relationship with God, your paths will be straight not because everything will practically be going better for you, but because whatever you go through, if you're going through it with God, you're just better off.
That's the best I can do at 1:20 AM. Have a good night!
I am not a Hebrew scholar, so I can't comment on the appropriateness of using "acknowledge" as a translation for yada. However, I do believe that the statement, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." does infer something of the character of God and his desire for relationship with us. Specifically, I believe it speaks of the fact that God desires us to be utterly dependent on him. The more I grow in my walk with the Lord, the more I am convinced that He is after the self-dependence (pride) in my life. He is jealous for my dependence and is working to reveal where I am lacking dependence on him. So, when I read "In all your ways acknowledge him...", I see that as a directive to put self-dependence to death and to put on dependence upon God in all things.
It seems to me that both Ben and John have valid points, and they are perfectly reasonable assumptions to make about the verse, and what I am about to say might sound a bit like Dad but it is true at least in my life.
Having said that It is not just the knowledge of God nor the desire to show him forth in our everyday lives but the willingness to commit. Commit to what, and why?
As some of you know I am in the process of selling the house. Now it was supposed to be signed over today, and that would be the end of that and life would go about it's merry way. I would be getting about $13,000 after the mortgage payoff and I would be able to do the things with the money that I needed to do.
Well that is not the case! The house is not selling until maybe next week - that is if the Hospital that I owe $130,000 to decides just to take the $13,000. I know it sucks I had plans and desires for my future with that money!
Why all that? Well God and I had a nice long fight over it and as usual He won. That is to say that it is not your plans but just being willing to walk! Vs 1-4 give us that we should not forget God's law and His way. Vs 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake you bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4. and so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.
Verses 5 and 6 don't tell me that I will make the way and God will make it straight, but rather that God is telling us to walk and he will lead the way! I can only say from my own experiences that God shows us the way to walk and expects us to walk it.
Thankfully not alone! and the Idea of straight may not mean easy as Ben suggested but rather the strength to make that path easier then it would be on our own.
I also like what vs. 7 has to say Be not wise in your own Eyes: Fear the Lord and depart form Evil. Or better said do as God asks turn toward His truth and remember it is God not you that will give wisdom when needed!
It is not easy to say that I am just walking and God will tell me where to go but if you look at Paul he did that very thing in Act 3. He wanted to Go to Asia but God told him no. It was probably very hard for Paul to deal with God saying no to the plans of Paul. Everywhere Paul went people were being saved but God said No. Then He has the dream of the Macedonian man standing saying come and help us. It was not an easy trip and not an easy thing for Paul to say God's will be done but God told him to walk and Paul followed.
We have that same call just to walk and God will lead. It's like being a Kid and just riding in the car. You don't know where you are going you're just happy to be going along. In that respect we must just live and let God lead.
Thanks and remember I am available for night and weekend parties.
It all sounds good to me
(3 John 1:4) I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
AT the end of the day it is good to live inside the walls of God's sovereignty. There is pleanty of room for questions and perhaps doubts but at night we can sleep under the roof of
(Psa 18:30) As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
Dad
KLU
Tango,
You have some wise friends and relatives. I echo what all of them have said, but I want to focus on the words in our title.
"Roads" has sufficiently been reviewed, so let's talk about "all" and "your." All is an important word here. Too often, like athletes and musicians we want to give God his due after things have been done, but we don't always include Him in the actual doing. We'll use our effort and our inspiration to do something, then say "oh yeah, and God helped too." We need to make God a part of the whole process, from beginning to end. That includes everything, from designing mZingas, selling houses or teaching people how to use their Macs.
Here is where "your" comes in. If we look at the context, it seems as though "your" should better be described as "His." Check out Eugene Peterson's version of verse 6: "Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track." (v7 Don't assume you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!) The track we must be on is God's not our own. We must remember that God isn't something that we add to our life, or another option in the things that we do. He is a life-changer, if we focus on staying connected to Him, he will create our path, track or road and we will follow, instead of the other way around.
This ties into some things I've been thinking about (and should be writing about). You should check out Soul Revolution by John Burke. In it, he discusses the 60/60 challenge he presented to his church in TX. In it, he challenged folks to set their watches to beep every hour. With every beep they were to check out where they were with God at that moment. Life change ensued.
Sorry for getting back so slow. I'm writing this from the break room at the Apple Store.
This is all great stuff, and you've given me more to think about. Thanks for posting, and keep it coming.
We're all wired differently, and for me, the place where hearing God's word meets life change is when God allows me the chance to think like the writer - to "get to the mind of the author". As a result, I tend to focus on details, like what the writer (and God) meant to convey to the original audience in the metaphor. Knowing that helps me see how it precisely and actively applies to me. Renewing you mind and all that sort... Hopefully that makes sense. Anyhow, I still don't feel like I have that yet.
Even so, It's good to be reminded of these bigger truths, and perhaps they're part of the detail I'm seeking. I'm not sure. I'll have to ponder further.
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