Keeping The Peace

Keeping The Peace

12/13/20

In our own hearts and minds, we mainly feel that what we do to try and keep the peace between two or more parties is noble and just, but as many of us have experienced this is not always the desired outcome all had hoped for.  Certain policies we use in these positions can come back to bite us especially when the movements of peace talks result in results that go totally against the overall goals and intentions of the original composition.  In many ways, God has given humans the ability to help those in need of stress and struggle, but if we do not accomplish these gifts in the manner that God deems necessary, be sure those sins shall find you out.  Unless we keep God first in our lives and seek His Ways and Wisdom at all times our efforts to bring any type of long-lasting and deep peace will be thwarted.  It is God's desire for all to live in harmony with true dancing before Him through celebrations of life but we cannot afford to do these celebrations without God in our lives; a true test and attrition of faith in motion.

I cannot tell you how many times throughout my career in the medical field that I have had to deal with certain problems while my boss was away or out for some reason.  Some of the time these issues were of a hospital or physician-centered dilemma but mostly it would be folks within my own department that had ideas that they finally brought up to others and then publicly decided to implement these items without going through the proper channels.  I am not referring to emergency settings at all but ones that when one works with people for a certain amount of time know where their thought processes are and how if given the chance would change certain policies to favor how they view some challenging details. This is why it is very important that people who are placed in charge of others in this environment when the boss or leader away needs to support the leadership's responsibility goals just as much or even greater than the said leader.  If the leader is placed into a certain amount of disloyalty while away, things could go south really quick back on the home front, and if gone long enough dangerous activity levels could be present when the leader returns.  I bet the majority of those put into temporary leadership positions can relate for it might seem a bit exciting to be chosen but after it occurs the responsibilities are incredibly high.

Looking back, I know that some of the decisions that I made when I was placed in charge of settings were not always the best or the friendliest, but I always kept the mission statement of my boss intact and on course.  My parents taught me this staying course concept a long time ago and their advice has served me well.  However, there was a time when I veered off this course and went and did things on my own, and it cost me dearly.  I know I am human and I know that voluntary decisions to veer away can alter lives and for this, I cannot deny my ineptness.  The Bible gives us plenty of examples of what occurs when leadership goes astray and having people in charge when the overall boss is away is mentioned numerous times as well.  The passage for this article gives us a great example of this informational testimony and a good lesson on how when charged with a leadership task to avoid popular notions of those underneath and to stay the course that has been provided.  Temporary leaders are chosen and appointed for a reason and are expected to do a good job in the absence of commanders, can we ask ourselves this question and be positive that we will stand before our Leader one day and hear Him say "well done"?  Or will we fall into this category that Aaron places himself into?

Exodus 32:1-6

"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, we wot not what is become of him.  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.  And all the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.  And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar for it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."

Wow, what a large amount of information that we have in this short passage of Scripture, but what intrigues me the most is that there are many comparisons that today's people can not only relate to but actually participate in.  Now, when people come to you in numbers it is usually not for very good reasons, there is probably some type of issue that they wish to address and as stated above this type of grouping is famously presented when the main leaders are missing.  It is not unusual for leaders to place other trusted individuals in charge while they are gone and in this case, it made perfect sense since Aaron was considered to be the high priest and Moses' right-hand man.  Aaron could not help but hear and witness all of the past moanings and groanings from the people about almost everything in the book, so it does say a lot about the character of Aaron and his backbone structure.

Now, we know how the Children of Israel had acted in times previously while they were in the wilderness, cantankerous is a mild term that can be used here as a definition for their behavior but this should have not been any reason for Aaron to dismiss God and His Way for these folks.  Yet Aaron did not want to stir the pot and hopefully, they would not revolt under his watch if he complied with their continued demands.  This setting reminds me of when in high school some students would try and manipulate the substitute teacher and over my tenure in that era I was witness to many plans of action in this manner, even though the true plan had been already assigned.  The people of God had gotten it into their heads that God had taken Moses from this earth and that they were now stuck out in the wilderness on their own.  "Naturally", they had to replace God with another which meant that their hearts needed to go back to Egypt and once again practice their idol worship.  The Children of Israel were not dumb, they knew exactly how to manipulate Aaron and to convince him that their way was the best, a deadly fault of his back then and today a continued deadly fault of ours.  Ironically, during this time they admit that they need a spiritual leader and since Moses is not coming back they quickly revert back to the spiritual idols that they were familiar with in Egypt which says that their hearts had not even left Egypt yet.

Wandering around in a barren land for years does not seem like the best time in one's life, but they were there for a reason and so far up until that point had not understood what needed to be done for that journey to be ended.  The mundanes of travel can be hard on the body and spirit and we have no idea how bad things were walking in those conditions but we do know that God did an excellent job in providing everything they needed while they were being cleansed.  The wanted excitement they desired came from their ties within Egypt and it was obvious that they were much happier in Egypt than where they were at now.  The correct thing Aaron should have done was to keep God's plan intact and to tell them to calm down that God had everything under control.  The important thing here was for them to be still in their hearts and wait on God, for Moses would return at some time or God would continue His plan in His Way, and let's be honest here this period of time was not that long in comparison to how long they had already been in the wilderness; a restless spirit is just as dangerous in the wilderness as it is in modern society.

It is a must that any type of leader needs to be strong and capable of leading in the manner one should go at all times, whether it be in the top position or 15th in command.  It is clear that Aaron was basically a wimp when it came to backbone and strength or when crisis situations arrived because choosing to appease the people or a certain group that goes against all that is stood for is not a wise decision and one that takes the easy way out.  God was in the process of getting the Children of Israel out of Egypt spiritually so that He could walk them into the Promised Land but Aaron encouraged selfish plans instead and allowed them to flourish during Moses' absence.  And did they ever sing and dance to those idols, the Children of Israel were happy in their return to Egypt in this manner and while it gave them moments of joy and happiness, it was all superficial for their pleasure was opposite of what God wanted for their lives and what they had so desperately cried out to God for.

However, a clear reality occurs when the Truth becomes present.  The noise from all the music, dancing, and singing reached Moses on the mountain top and he figured something was amiss.  Such a change from the time of bondage until the time in the wilderness, but is this a true statement to make?  Not really, because it is evident that the Children of Israel were still in bondage, maybe not in the physical or superficial sense but still were in the spiritual sense, and unless we are free in all aspects of our lives we are still in bondage.  There is a reason God took His time when He set into motion the journey of the Israelites, for it is a process that does takes time through the trials of getting the world (Egypt) out of the Children of Israel and this passage of Scripture shows us exactly how deep the world is embedded within our lives and if we are not willing to allow God to show His healing in our lives there shall be consequences.  Even though the consequences of this action are not included in this passage, the very condensed version is that 3,000 men died as a result of this selfish and worldly folly.

We should expect such antics from the world for it has nothing to with nor does it want anything to do with God.  But the Church should have other reasons for her existence and that is to teach that there is true freedom through God and that all fallaciousness cannot withstand when trials and tribulations occur.  We see this occurring all throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and we can easily add modern times and all other times of human history in this congregation.  Selfish and demanding human wishes have always been a part of our lives and unless we tame them through God and His Ways they will one day overcome our lives and we will inevitably take action that will subjugate us away from God forever.  So, why is it any priority of the Church to spend time harboring the world and its ideas?  Yes, we are supposed to have mercy on those who are hurting and in pain for the Truth, but it is NOT our responsibility to bring in worldly dancers and singers in order to maintain a solemn and cordial relationship with those who should differ from our beliefs.

This is actually a game that many of us play each day that our eyes open in the morning and it is an eternally dangerous game that will cost not only us and our loved-ones their place with God but countless others who need God as well.  Look at the attitude of the Church today, not many are happy.  Why is that, do you suppose?  There should not be any horrific or unexpected events occurring that should make you upset, for every known scenario that is occurring and that has recently occurred has been predicted.  We should be setting the examples of True peace to those around us, displaying a calmness that most cannot understand yet, we are dancing and singing worldly tunes and vibrating to worldly standards.  What we are providing is a lie, believing that everything is okay and that nothing serious has occurred, relaxing the troops if you wish to place it in that content.

This presentation of such antics is not a calming method for improvement for if it was all should be happy and satisfied.  However, the tension and uneasiness within the world have never been higher and one of these days our dancing and singing to worldly gods is going to be halted.  Then what shall we do?  What shall we do when that day arrives and God begins to take all of our gods away, what will our provisions be then?  We will have so much worldly knowledge but no way to tame it or to even use it for its mechanisms of energy will no longer be relevant.  It will be then that some shall realize how important it should have been to prepare our lives instead of protesting our lives.  Church, you are a huge contributor to this belief, and just as 3,000 men lost their lives for the allowance of personal and direct disobedience to God in the wilderness so shall we lose what we consider near and dear to us.  Pleasing the crowds has its moments, but when the Truth deals with eternal placement through obedience, there cannot be ANY pleasing the gods.

DLB