Romans 7:10-11 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
Sometimes what we intend does not happen. The outcome doesn’t match what we had planned. Even the best plans fail. The military speaks about plans being good until the first shot is fired, then all bets are off.
Some people are planners, their lives are always on a schedule, with the next thing already seen and anticipated. Others seem to flow along in life without any awareness that there is anything after the present moment. A third group seems to fit somewhere in the middle, enjoying the present moment, but still having an idea about what comes next.
As I get older I am facing the “what comes next” more often in my thinking than I did as I was younger, and I am not sure I like what I see. I find myself sitting much more than I have in the past. I’m reading a book or other entertainment, but not what most people would call a productive activity.
But my intention is to continue to be active, alert and learning. But I find myself wanting to avoid tasks that are a challenge, ones that could lead to frustration, even if for only a few minutes or hours. And it is this tendency that is not part of what I intend. I want to face the challenges head on, and not cower in safety.
Paul in our text speaks about his intention as a follower of Jesus to live a life pleasing to God. He used to think that keeping the stipulations of the Old Testament Law was the key to success in this area. But then, Jesus intervened, and the whole direction of his life changed.
His experience with trying to keep the Law taught him that he couldn’t do it. But more importantly, he came to realize that it was impossible to keep. And then he realized that this was not what the LORD had wanted from him in the first place. What a transformation!
The Law’s intent was to help God’s people to realize that they couldn’t and wouldn’t keep the requirements of the Law. The intent was that this would drive His people to their knees in surrender and humility. Instead of trying to do it in their power, trusting their own wisdom to be holy, they were to trust the LORD to provide the wisdom needed.
But in normal human fashion, people had seen the commandments and thought that they were supposed to keep them as a requirement for acceptance before God. Their ‘doing’ replaced their trusting. And trusting is the essence of relationship with the LORD.
He provided everything in the garden needed for life. Everything! All the LORD asked was that they trusted Him to decide what good and evil was. They could trust Him, or they could eat from the forbidden tree. It was their choice. Would they trust Him!
And this same choice gets repeated down through centuries, and the LORD is always faithful, and humanity consistently fails. They try to do it on their own. They try to do it their way. They don’t trust that the LORD has their best interests at heart.
And so, Paul fell into the same trap. He thought keeping the details would please God, and that became Paul’s downfall. It trapped him. It prevented him from trusting.
Are we trusting, or are we determining the ways things should be, relying on our own perspective and ‘wisdom?’ He wants us to trust. That is the goal.
The Arnold Journey 