Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart.  Deuteronomy 8:2

When I was in school, tests were given in order to know what was in my head.  I was pretty good at memorizing lists of information the night before a biology exam.  Making up acronyms to help recall facts was kind of fun and I would pace back and forth across the living room reciting my secret codes until I had them all down.  (For instance, Fly Away Right Before Midnight = the vertebrates in the animal kingdom: Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, Mammals.  Oh!   And ToMMY was a real fun guy – fungi – get it?  Toadstools, Mold, Mushrooms and Yeast. Hey, it worked for me – I remembered that one after 30-some years!)

The next morning I could walk into the classroom and regurgitate the data onto each correct blank; by afternoon, however, most of it was forgotten.  The system got me through high school with pretty good grades, but, unfortunately, not much real knowledge.

God’s tests are run a little differently.  He’s not as interested in what’s in our heads as much as what’s in our hearts.  And the only way to find that out is to spend some time wandering around in a hot, dry desert without food and water.  When we are in a position where we can’t make it on our own and our only hope of survival is complete dependence on God, it won’t be long before whatever is in our hearts comes leaking out: either grumbling and defiance or surrender and obedience.  It’s true: when you are being squeezed, whatever is inside will come out.

The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and all your soul.  Deuteronomy 13:3

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people.”  Exodus 32:9

Our women’s Bible study continues trekking through Exodus with Moses and all those “stiff-necked” Israelites.  That’s a term we don’t hear much anymore.  It means rebellious, stubborn, haughty, unbending, difficult, pig-headed.  The image of an ox unwilling to yield and refusing to put its head through a yoke by stiffening its neck captures the meaning of this word.  I happen to know a few “stiff-necked” people; in fact, I know one really well: me.

But what if I put that rebellious streak to good use?  Instead of rebelling against God and His great goodness, what if I rebelled against evil and sin and all the bad stuff in this world?  What if, when I’m tempted to give in to my flesh, I say, “You can’t make me”?  What if, when I want to fly off the handle and let some hurtful words fly, I say, “Self, I refuse to give in to you”?  What if we were pig-headed and became intensely difficult people for Satan to deal with?  What if our Enemy just got sick of us because of our rebellion against him?  Can you and I be stubbornly committed to following Christ and put that stiff neck to good use? 

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30

“As for God, His way is perfect.”  Psalm 18:30

I like people with crooked teeth.  I enjoy being around women who don’t have a totally “put together” look.  I love my friends who have a few gray hairs and a few extra pounds.  It must be hard to be perfect – it just isn’t my thing. 

That’s why I didn’t mind when Christina Aguilera made a little mistake when singing the National Anthem at the Superbowl.  My goodness, how would any of us do singing a solo in front of 107.5 million people?  In ridiculously high heels, no less?  But this is what poor Christina faced before she even got “home of the brave” out of her mouth:

Christina Aguilera “mangled”, “botched”,  “goofed up”, made a “major mistake”, was a “disaster”, and “screwed up in the worst way”.  Those words must have made her mom mad.  I would have been. 

My younger daughter once sang the National Anthem at a high school football game.  When she finished, there was the usual applause that translated, “Let’s get this game started.”  But my husband and I looked at each other and said, “Wasn’t she great?!  She got a standing ovation!”  Never mind that everybody always stands up for the Star Spangled Banner and the clapping wasn’t really for her so much as for the team running out onto the field.  As parents we tend to see things differently, I guess.  It’s our right.

Mistakes are refreshing, in my book.  Goof ups are endearing.  I hope Christina blew it off.  I hope her mom told her not to listen to all that talk.  I hope we all face the fact that nobody’s perfect, except God. 

He is God and I am not.  What a relief.

The other morning, the 5:30 a.m. alarm set off a debate.  It went something like this:

Flesh:  Go ahead and stay in bed for another half hour.  You deserve it.  Besides, it’s still dark, and outside this nice comforter it’s c-c-c-cold.

Spirit:  But I need this time with God. 

Flesh:  You can get time with God later today.  Just nestle down in this warm, soft bed and sleep a little longer.

Spirit:  But I really like to start my day off right with prayer and devos.

Flesh:  Well, you can pray while you’re in bed, can’t you?   Take another fifteen minutes.  It won’t matter that much. 

Then, just as I was beginning to drift into dreamland, a picture burst onto the theater screen of my mind.  I was in an airplane, about to jump (only in my dreams!) and the pilot turned around and said, “Don’t jump without your parachute.”  “Of course,” I thought, “how stupid of me.”  Fully awake, I got up and hustled into the other room.  Flesh almost talked me into jumping into the day without my parachute. 

The Lord upholds all those who fall… Psalm 145:14

“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.  When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it.  Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”  Exodus 17:11-12

Picture Moses on top of the hill, looking down on his people as they engage in warfare with the fierce Amalekites.  Imagine Moses raising the staff in his hands and seeing his people make advances in the combat.  But his arms get tired; when he puts them down for a moment, the momentum in the valley changes. Suddenly, his team of unseasoned warriors struggle to maintain their hold.  Up goes the staff, and the tide turns again.  But his arms get tired….  and so on and so on.

It’s a good thing Moses thought to bring along two buddies.  This was not a one-man job.  The longer the battle, the more support he needed.  And, oh, how we need each other.  Being faithful in prayer is hard work.  Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, “Joshua never grew weary in the fighting, but Moses did grow weary in the praying; the more spiritual an exercise, the more difficult it is for flesh and blood to maintain it.” 

How many battles have been lost because I have grown weary in prayer?  How many battles have been won because I have remained steady in prayer?  It’s a sobering thought.

There was another hill where a man was seen with arms upraised.  That was where the battle for you and me was won.  Instead of holding a staff, his arms were nailed to it so he couldn’t put them down, until the victory was complete. 

Consider him (Jesus) who endured such oppostion…so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:3