See Clearly

Do you ever expect something to turn out one way and then realize, your expectation was way off from reality?

That's kind of what happened to the nation of Israel in the book of Amos.

Now, I know Amos is probably not on your top ten list of favorite books of the bible, so I'll give you a little background....

Amos is one of the minor prophets of the Old Testament, but he doesn't really consider himself a prophet. By his account, he's just a humble shepherd who received visions from God with the instructions to share those visions with the northern kingdom of Israel.

In Amos's time, Israel was not doing very well. They had been under the rule of an evil king who led them far away from the covenant promise they had with God. The people were rebelling hard against God, and picking up the bad habits of their neighboring countries.

So the message God gave Amos for Israel wasn't really a happy one.

The book of Amos opens with a collection of short prophesies about God's coming judgment on the evil nations surrounding Israel, then focuses in on Israel themselves. This judgment is referred to as the "Day of the Lord."

But get this... the Israelites expected the Day of the Lord to be a day of blessing and victory for them as they watched God destroy the nations around them. They thought their special promise with God made them exempt from discipline, no matter what they did.

(Oof. Anyone else feel a little conviction here, or is it just me?)

Through Amos, God flipped this belief right on its head. In fact, God made it clear that because Israel was his chosen nation and they did have the special covenant with Him, they would be held to an even higher standard of judgment.

"For this is what Amos is saying: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.'" - Amos 7:11

Yikes.

What they expected to be a huge blessing and victory turned out to be a curse of punishment.

Again, I ask, have you ever expected something to turn out one way and then realized your expectation was way off from reality?

I've definitely been there a time or two.

The Israelites were blind to the truth of reality. They tried to manipulate God's gracious and loving nature, justifying their sin to themselves while asking for blessings from God.

It's just like the prophet Isaiah said:

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'" - Isaiah 29:13

How often do we fall in that boat? We may not be worshiping foreign gods, but we have our own ways of being disobedient.

How about grace culture?

Don't get me wrong, God's grace is a beautiful and powerful thing. A thing we could never earn or deserve, and I am eternally grateful that he extends it so bountifully.

BUT, we have a tendency to do just what the Israelites did and use that abundant grace as an excuse to do what we want. We tend to honor God with our lips on Sunday morning, but our hearts are far from Him by Friday night.

If we're not careful, the enemy will use people around us, the media we consume, the music we listen to, and so many other things to convince us that we have nothing but blessings coming from the Lord despite living in rebellion.

Do not believe that lie. The enemy is crafty and he can be very convincing.

That's why we have to be very cautious to measure everything against the truth of God's word, and if it doesn't line up, toss it aside.

"Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil." - 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21

In order to test these things against the truth of the Bible, we have to know the Bible. So dig in, and listen honestly for the voice of God. Don't just look for the things you want to hear. Don't just read the parts that make you feel warm and fuzzy.

Dig in to the parts that make you squirm or the parts that are confusing and ask God to show you what they mean. When you ask with an open heart, He will answer, and His answers will begin to change you.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7

Brothers and sisters, my prayer for you today, then is to seek the Lord's with eyes to see clearly.