Defiance

I was leaving lunch yesterday, a quaint new little spot in the Village, and there was a mom sitting at one of the bistro tables facing her two year old daughter who was standing on the chair across from her.  Sit down, she said, and the two year old looked at her and very defiantly said “no.” She repeated her command, and again the two year old repeated her defiant answer, “no”.   I wanted to stay and watch to see how this would turn out and who would win the battle, but I knew in the end, mom would somehow overcome. For not only had I witnessed this scenario most recently with my grandkids and their moms but the very same scenario is classic for all generations.

There is childish irresponsibility that is  a non calculated action that results in wrongdoing.  But it is innocent in the most part.  and for the long run these actions are often a time for learning and advancing behavior and skills.  Then there is willful defiance, a deliberate act of disobedience and a highly contested approach to who really in the boss and in charge. The difference between childish irresponsibility and willful defiance is planted in knowing or not knowing right from wrong. Defiance is an intentional action to step over a declared line of wrongful doing.  The other is making a mistake that was not intentionally motivated. 

We can identify this in children pretty easily, but how often do we take into account our defiant actions towards God. We have read the book and heard the sermons and know for the most park how God would call us to respond and act but oh too often I am so guilty of defiance.  I want to do things my way, for my self service and disregard and discount who is really the boss of my life.  I am that child standing on the chair looking God right in the face and saying “no”, not this time, not your way.  And the consequences, I still am learning will come back and bite me.  

A true test of how much I love and respect God is how obedient I choose to be to him. He sees the whole picture of each of our lives.  He knows the potholes that are before us on our journey, he knows how we are bent in emotions, he knows what fires us up and what calms us down, when our hearts are broken and our spirits are crushed and are dreams are deflated.  But what we don’t seem to get, or what I don’t seem to embrace is God’s ever-loving, never emptied grace of forgiveness and restoration in spite of my continued defiance.  Sure there are consequences and there always will be to everything we do, good or bad, right or wrong.  But we will always be a child, His child, in His eyes.  He love us in spite of our intentional defiance and every day, I am convinced is helping us to overcome temptations and look to him for His strength and guidance, when ours has been darkened by worldly assaults.  

It is in humility that we are able to not only identify our weaknesses and sins but that we seek forgiveness from His holy throne of grace.  Nobody likes to admit a wrongdoing, partly out of guilt, partly out of pride, and partly out of shame, but mostly out of a self driven determination to stay afloat in the midst of criticism, ridicule, and embarrassment.  We want to hold our own and not be under the rule of any authority other than our own.  That is just not God’s way, and until I realize how much better life goes when I give God the reigns of my life  and stop standing blatantly on that chair of resistance, I am never going to be free of the insecurities that seem to grip me at every turn. 

I will always be a child and make mistakes but as I grow older and experience more trials and triumphs, I am learning to take all that comes in life as lessons; lessons to make me strong, to help me discern right from wrong,  to grow my faith, to accept God’s strength when I am weak and to fess up when I mess up, whether it is intentional grounding of authority or not. Defiance is just a softer word for sin, and not a one of us is exempt from its clutches, unless we are sitting comfortably at God’s table of power and grace. For it is not what I can do but what God can do through me when I  seek His way.

1 John 2:4-6

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, love for God^[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

The question to be answered is: Am I standing on the chair of defiance or do I love God enough to sit when he says sit, and respect his authority, trust in his promises and faithfully submit to his ways.....in spite of the circumstances. He wants to hear our confessions, forgive our trespasses and hold us accountable to His ways of love, and be motivated through that love to  serve others for the goodness of His kingdom.  

Dear Lord, Thank you loving us through your constant attention and lessons.  May we seek you in all that we do and relinquish our rights to your ways.  Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!