Look What Happened!
A broken window, a bent fender, or a dog loose from the yard. These situations can sometimes be attributed to accidental causes.
It
is usually the person who is at fault calling it an accident; while the
person effected would more than likely call it negligent disregard.
These perceived perspectives point the pathways which direct each persons moral compass of right from wrong.
For
example an accidental gunshot victim caused by someone target shooting.
Anyway you want to slice the truth up to dissect an answer. This fact
will always remain constant. The shooter shot the victim.
A
more common example might be; you go home and find the house a mess.
The kids, dog, and spouse are nowhere to be found. What happened? Was it
a burglary, kids rough housing, dog chewing up the house, or did your
spouse go crazy?
Imagine how Moses must have felt when the Lord said to Moses, “Go,
get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way
which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and
worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O
Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” (Exodus 32:7-8)
When Moses comes down off of the mountain he asked his brother and first high priest, Aaron (Exodus 28:1), “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” (Exodus 32:21)
Here is the jaw dropping response Aaron gives Moses. Kinda like a child’s face covered in stolen cake sheepishly explaining, “Look what happened.” Aaron answered Moses saying, And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” (Exodus 32:24)
Insinuating
that all he did was throw the stuff in the fire and out popped a golden
calf by accident like magic. Aaron gives no hint or explanation
revealing ownership of his integral part in the engraving and molding of
the calf as evidenced in verse four.
And
he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an
engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your
god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4)
We
have all heard the phrase, “When the cat’s away the mice will play.”
Moses was the patriarch, the moral glue that held the Israelites
together. The people knew he was on the mountain with God and when they
saw he was delayed they were looking for any excuse to revel and play in
their sin. (Exodus 32:1,6)
Satan’s Perversion
Satan
will use any excuse to pull you back into sin. Satan says, “Look your
husband, wife, parents, preacher, friend, or family is away you can join
me and play in your sin. No one will ever know.
Satan is at the ready to help you make excuses to fail in your sins. ‘The devil made me do’ it scenario. (Romans 7:19)
Satan
is very convincing and makes it appealing to blame others by calling it
your lot in life. Saying, “You got a raw deal or an unfair shake. Don’t
fight it cause it’s not your fault anyway. &#%!@ Just Happens!
Satan
has convinced many who are in bad situations such as poverty,
alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual perversion, and prostitution that
there is nothing they can do about it. So, “Why fight it just go along
with it and roll with the punches.”
God’s word says,
“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a
dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.” (Exodus 23:2)
What’s Your Idol?
Israel’s
sin of idolatry was manifested through worshiping a golden calf. They
used Moses’ absence as an excuse to wallow in the gutter together.
Just
because someone is raised in or realizes that they are in a sinful
circumstance does not give them license or liberty to jump in the gutter
and join in the idolatry of that sin’s situation. A righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a murky spring and a polluted well. (Proverbs 25:26)
Put
down the bottle. Take the needle out of your arm. Flee from sexual
immorality. Stand up and fight the evil oppressing your life before it
hardens your heart and strengthens your hand in it.
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (Psalm 94:16)
Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13)
The Forge of Life
Many claim, “Look What Happened!
It’s not my fault! I’m the product of my environment, that forged the
life I have today. My life was put in the forge of worldly
circumstances, and it came out like this.”
“The
fire made me Like this,” says the sinner as he cowardly casts off his
responsibilities with pride saying, “Besides, I came out alright.”
Throw
yourself back into the fire and re-forge your destiny in Christ. It is
never too late to break the bondage of your sins. Let Jesus deliver you
out of your own kind of Egypt that is dead set on oppressing your life.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)
But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
But
the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of
Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. (Deuteronomy 4:20)
Own your Sin
Don’t be like Aaron. Aaron told Moses, So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” (Exodus 32:24) Aaron tried to escape ownership of his sin by blaming it on others; those who gave him the gold to make their calf.
Don’t be like the original sinners named Adam and Eve; who blamed each other and insinuating, “The devil made me do it.”
Then
the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of
the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this
you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12-13)
By
accepting ownership of your sins and behaviors you can forge ahead in
life. You can dramatically affect your own future harvest and eventual
outcome in life.
For each one shall bear his own load. Be Generous and Do Good Let
him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who
teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh
reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap
everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due
season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the
household of faith. (Galatians 6:5-10)
Focus
by looking ahead down the footpath in your life, so that God can make
your path straight. Trust in God and not your own perceived perspective
as understood and influenced by Satan, mankind, or mere happenstance.
Trust
in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own
understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct
your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Stay focused especially when there are outside influences that wish to redirect and draw you away from your destination.
Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:26-27)
Forge ahead with Jesus and rest assured, at the end you will see your Savior. Then you can honestly say, “I believed and Look what Happened!”
