A Moment with the Mission Centre President–Bargaining with God?

​In the Virtual Visiting Fellowship groups this week we are discussing two scriptures involving talking God out of punishing the people. In Genesis 18:20-33, Abraham talks God out of destroying the city of Sodom even if there are only five “righteous” people living in the city full of otherwise sinful people. And in Exodus 32:7-14 Moses argues with God about God’s intention to punish the people for their misbehavior while Moses was on the mountain to get direction from God. The links given above will take you to the stories in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. In Exodus 32:14 God “changed his mind” and did not punish the people. In the King James version the verse says, “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” Most modern translations use some variation on the NRSV wording, so it may be a more accurate expression of the original language. However, the KJV presents an interesting concept. How can God “repent” of anything? And how could God possibly think of “evil” to do to his people?
 
These two stories are examples of significant bargaining with God. In our own lives the extent of bargaining with God in a stereotypical sense involves trying to make a deal with God as in, “Dear God, If you will get me out of this mess (that I know I have created), I will go to church every Sunday from now on.” Or maybe it’s “heal my disease,” or “help my family reconcile,” or any other of life’s major challenges. Seldom do such deals work out as well as the two situations in the Old Testament did.
 
In the Gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus giving this advice: “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7) This is the more likely example we should be following. No matter the situations in which we find ourselves, it is expected that we will reach out to God in prayer and supplication to seek his special blessings of wisdom and relief. We may feel God’s direction and inspiration as we find our way to healing (or even if the answer to our prayer is not what we expected or requested). Mostly, it is reasonable to believe that God knows what blessings we require before we ask. We do not need to follow the example of Moses or Abraham in bargaining with God. We need to follow Jesus’ advice to not “tempt” God, but rather to simply seek God’s blessings.
 
As always, I pray for you God’s blessings of joy, hope, love, and peace in these challenging times.

Steve Thompson
Canada West Mission Centre President
steve@communityofchrist.ca