I have a good friend who is a retired Saint Petersburg police officer. I believe he is an amature psychologist. One of his favorite axioms is ” If you find yourself in a hole… stop digging. ” Some of the criminals he arrested over the years would use the same “Modus Operandi” every time they broke into a home. They would take the fifth glass out of jalousie window to illegally enter a victims house. That particular person did not seem to learn. He could not realize that he should stop digging.
However, some of us have an ” Ah ha ” moment in life and in our first reading from Acts one of the Sanhedrin, A Rabbi named Gamaliel might have had one of those moments. Gamaliel was a mentor to Saint Paul and was a learned and respected member of the Sanhedrin. I believe Gamaliel wanted to do the right thing and may have had the beginning of a conversion experience. When Peter and the apostles were freed from prison by the angel, they went out and preached openly in the temple area. They were brought back before the Sanhedrin and Gamaliel’s thoughts to the council was this “If it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them:you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”
We all come to decision points in life. Gamaliel was at one of those points. He was looking for direction from God. He did not want to fight God.
Because I am a sinner I sometimes find myself fighting God. I am not saying this is the smartest thing I have ever done but I am guilty. Once I was accused of something I did not do. It was a terrible and vulnerable feeling. Yet at another time I accused someone else of something he didn’t do. How soon we forget. Stop digging. That judgement seat can be an uncomfortable place sometimes for humans. That’s why I am glad it is in Jesus’s hands and not mine.
Right now many people including myself throughout the world are struggling with both personal and health decisions . I believe Gamaliel’s advice still holds. We do not want to be in a position of fighting God?
Our first responders and food chain workers don’t have the choice. My daughter is one of them. We need these brave and essential individuals for our society to survive. My wife and I miss seeing my grandchildren other than on the phone or Facebook. As a people we have learned sacrifice in the last month. Somehow it seems longer.
Everyone has to weight their personal intentions and circumstances of life.
What does God want?
Am I trying to fight God?
There is no one right answer?
In this time of crisis, I believe that we all should continue praying for our state and local leaders. We need to pray for ourselves and family. We all need God’s direction in every part of our life both spiritual and material .
Just like Gamaliel, I trust that if it is of God that we will flourish!
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
