June 29, 2013 … Settling Differences

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 180

Passage of the Day #1: Proverbs 18: 18 [Letting God decide.] [NLT] …  
18 Casting lots can end arguments and settle disputes between powerful opponents.
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 Passage of the Day #2: Proverbs 16: 33 [Letting God decide.] [NLT] …  
33 We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.
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 Reference Passage #1: Acts 1: 23-26 [God knows – let Him decide!] [NLT] …  
23 And they [the remaining inner 11 Disciples] proposed two [to replace Judas Iscariot]: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, Who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” 26 And they cast their lo ts, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Reference Passage #2: 1 Peter 5: 6-7 [Sometimes putting a dispute in God’s hands is the best way to decide differences] [NLT] …  
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you.

My Journal for Today: If you’re a parent of two or more kiddos, perhaps you’ve been in this scenario. You’re driving down the highway; and the kids get into a dispute over a toy and they can’t decide who gets the desired play thing. What do you do? … Well, summoning up the wisdom of Solomon, you let the kids flip a coin if there’s just two of them. If there were three, perhaps you let them do a “rock-paper-scissors” to decide the issue. But before you did this “game of chance” to decide, if you’re very wise, you got an agreement from the kids that whoever won the coin flip or the rock-paper-scissors was going to abide by the outcome … no matter what!

I hope you realize just how biblical that decision-making technique is. In fact the Book of Proverbs, written by Solomon, recommends using such techniques to help rectify decisions that just don’t seem to be able to be resolved by us humans [see highlight passages above]. In fact, if you read the Acts 1 passage copied above, the eleven remaining disciples (after Judas Iscariot committed suicide) used the casting of lots to decide Judas’ replacement; and the only thing they added to the simple game you might use to help the kids decide the toy scenario was to pray to God to help them decide what couldn’t be decided by the Disciples, which is a very wise thing to do when casting lots to make a decision.

Fellow seekers/readers, if you believe, as do I, that God is totally in control; and that there are no accidents before an omnipotent and omniscient God, then if we take the attitude of 1st Peter 5: 6-7 and we humbly go before God and submit a decision to Him, because we know and believe He cares for our very well-being, casting lots to decide an issue, when we cannot decide on our own, is not only very rational, it is a biblically-endorsed decision-making strategy.

Now, let me very clear on one disclaimer, ... I’m not trying to sanction you going to the local casino to let God help you decide your financial woes by casting lots. No, ... that’s a matter of other biblically mandated decision-making techniques, … mostly having to do with prudent biblically-directed stewardship of your finances. And “casting lots” at a local casino in that scenario is certainly not the way to cast all your financial cares on God.

But for seemingly un-decidable issues, which we humans simply cannot decide "yea or nay," perhaps praying and leaving the decision humbly to God in the flip of a coin might be the most Godly way to decide the issue … well, at least to decide which child gets the toy in the back seat of the car.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, thank You for caring enough to help us make decisions by the casting of lots. … Amen