Let's Make a Deal...with God

It isn’t safe to bargain with God...

I sat in worship yesterday listening to Pastor Pat preach on the talent parable. With her characteristic sensible humor she pointed out the one talent man’s sin was not in having only one talent. His sins were fear of failure and comparing himself to the others who had been given more talents. Paralyzed by his fear, he didn’t use what had been given to him but buried himself underground and what he feared, his master’s wrath, did indeed come to pass.
As she preached, I watched Mary with her two young children in the row in front of us. Pastor Pat had asked the church to help Mary. She is moving into her first apartment and has nothing so anything we can give will be helpful. We are cleaning out the farm house this week because Jeannie’s twin sister is moving in with her furniture. I have a set of dishes and glasses down there I was planning to move up to our house. The glasses are a really pretty purple and I had a special place for them in my glass cabinet. The dishes have fruit on them and would be a fun addition to my entertaining stash.
I decided to play the Gideon Game. Gideon had been doing the Lord’s bidding and gotten his people into a world of trouble by pulling the altars of his neighbor’s gods down. Now there was going to be a war and God wanted Gideon to lead the charge. Gideon had been called by God but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go and he wanted to know the battle would succeed. So, he set up a mechanism to make God prove he was serious. Gideon laid out a fleece on the ground and had God wet the fleece while keeping the ground dry during the night. That wasn’t enough for Gideon. The next night, he wanted the fleece dry with the ground wet. God was patient but consistent. Read Judges 6 through 7 for the end of the story.
I bargained with God. It went like this... O.K., Lord... I hear you. I have much and she has little. I can help. But I really love those pretty purple glasses, Lord. Let’s make a deal. I’ll ask Mary what her favorite color is and if she says blue or green, I’ll keep the glasses and give her the dishes. If she says purple, you win and she gets the glasses and the dishes. So after worship, I make a beeline up to Mary and ask... You see the ending already, don’t you? Her favorite color is purple, of course. I swear I heard God giggle. So now the farm family has purple glasses, dishes, pans and other kitchen stuff, a bedroom set, and a sofa for Mary to help her with her new start. God has multiplied those purple glasses through us all.
So this week I will be figuring out how to get a sofa, a bedroom set, pots and pans and dishes to the church so Mary can see her new home taking shape. When the Housing Authority calls with her new address, she will carry a part of our hearts with her. When she sets her table for her first meal in her new home and puts those pretty purple glasses on her table, I hope she sees the love that surrounds her... God’s love and our love. Watch out when you make a deal with God. You might have to keep your end of the bargain.