The Two-Hundred-Eighty-Third (Who Do We Turn To)
- Rob
- 22 hours ago
- 10 min read
Our topic this week is a sort of follow on to last week’s topic. Where last week we asked ourselves whose expectations we are making a priority in our lives and trying to live to day-to-day, this week we’re asking who do we turn to for various things that happen to us in our lives. When we come to challenges, or when we experience hardship, or even when we just have a question about something we’re struggling with or wondering what we should do, who is it that we seek in those situations?
Hopefully, last week you came to the realization that everything we do in our lives, whether it be deciding what to eat or how to act, should be done to the expectations of YHWH. That focus and priority should be helping us live from inward to outward. In other words, the things we decide and desire to do every day should be guided by His expectations.
This week, the idea is to address the flip side of our lives: the things that happen to us. How do we act when those things happen today, and who do we seek today? Who should we seek, and do we need to adjust how we act in that aspect of our lives?
One of the most popular chapters of scripture is Psalm 23. At only six verses, it’s one of the shorter psalms, and one of the shorter chapters of scripture, in general. When we quote this chapter though, do we really recognize what the verses are saying? Even more, do we live by what they are saying?
This psalm is just one of many that talk about our relationship with YHWH, and by extension, Yeshua. They give us guidance as to what we should be doing when things come our way that we’re not sure what to do with. They show us what our focus should be when we feel we’re being attacked both spiritually and physically, who we should ask for help.
One of the great challenges we have as believers is trying to figure out how we apply the things we learn when we study YHWH’s word. What does it mean that YHWH is my Shepherd? Where do I draw the line on the things I have to figure out on my own and the things He will help me with? What’s considered too small for me to take to Him, or what’s meaningless to Him even though it seems like a big deal to me so I shouldn’t even bother Him with it?
We tend to over-spiritualize the things we see in scripture, and I think mainstream Christianity has, over time, done this to the point that there has become a separation between what we learn in scripture and what we do in our day-to-day lives. We fail to recognize what YHWH is telling us in His word and how He desires us to live by it, and it’s created a divide where we almost shift our brains to “scripture/spiritual mode” when we study His word, and when we’re done studying we go back to “world/physical mode.” For example, commonly when Christians experience marriage troubles their first reaction is to go to their pastor for counseling. Is that who YHWH wants us to turn to? Is that who Yeshua wants us to turn to?
I listened to a very interesting podcast episode this week where a couple was interviewed. They were asked about their relationship, among other things, and what intrigued me was their explanation of how they met and came to be married. Let me tell you, it was certainly out of the ordinary!
They had both been married before, but without Yeshua being living and active in their lives. By their own admission, those relationships were very fleshly rather than spiritually focused. When those marriages ended because they started to really apply YHWH’s word to their lives and seek Him earnestly, one decided he would never get married again and the other decided she was going to let YHWH decide who would be her husband.
Long story short, while they were both running in the same circles they hadn’t come across each other, and they ended up meeting through a friend. Through divinely orchestrated interactions, they both knew that the other was the one YHWH brought to them for marriage. They got married based on this, but by their own admission they didn’t even know each other, let alone love each other!
Now, before we move on, I have to make sure you understand that in no way am I saying everyone should do that! The reason I’m pointing these things out is the fact that these two have made it through decades of marriage at this point and admitted that they struggled a lot at the beginning. Imagine marrying a stranger with the only thing in common between you is a deep love for YHWH. One of the things that kept them together was being convinced based on the circumstances that YHWH had brought them together, and together for a purpose.
The other aspect that kept them together centers around this week’s topic. They talked about the arguments and challenges that came up day after day at the beginning of their marriage and how they responded to them. Their go to? Prayer. Every time.
Sometimes, one would still be angry while the other was sound asleep and peaceful, so they would go to the prayer closet in the middle of the night to pray about it while the other slept. Other times, they would get so upset they would hop in the car and drive away. They’d stop and pray, and the answer that they were given? Turn around and go back.
In that interview, they stated that while they could not say that they were in love when they got married, today after years of marriage they are in love. Their view is that the world’s idea of love is being an emotion that you’re “in,” when in reality love starts out as a choice, a decision that we make. Perhaps that’s a topic for another time, though!
Marriage is just one aspect of our lives that we should ask ourselves who we turn to for, though. Other aspects are just as important for us to ask that question. For healing, do we turn to YHWH or to men like doctors first? If we’re bored, do we turn to Him or scroll on social media to fill our time? For emotional issues or struggling with our day-to-day lives, do we ask YHWH for help or look for the next available therapist? For questions about how to interpret His word or what we’re supposed to learn from it, do we ask Him or a theologian or pastor?
For clarification, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to seek help from someone else for anything, but I am saying that man should not be the first one we turn to. If we seek an answer or a direction from YHWH and He sends us to a doctor, therapist, theologian, pastor, etc., then by all means that’s who we should go to. But that should be our order of operations: ask YHWH, then do what He says.
The problem we come to when we seek the answer first from mankind is that all people are driven by whatever their number one priority is. Is the person you’re seeking an answer from driven by money? Well, we know that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). If someone is devoted to money, they cannot serve YHWH (Matthew 6:24).
More generally, is the person driven by love of themselves? Is their focus to elevate themselves in some way above others? We know this is preached against many times in scripture (2 Timothy 3:1-2, Philippians 2:3), and leads to pride, arrogance, and lack of love towards others (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Even more generally, is the person driven by man’s expectations? Do they focus on what mankind says is right or wrong, truth or fiction, rather than what YHWH’s word says? They may not be driven by money or love of themselves and they may even truly want to help you and do what’s best for you, but are they putting what man says over what YHWH says when they’re trying to help you?
This is another aspect where we get confused as believers. We look at all these verses about not being selfish, being kind, loving your neighbor as yourself, and because we’ve disassociated the spiritual, and even YHWH, from these verses we’ve essentially tricked ourselves into thinking that if we see these traits in other people we can safely trust them and what they’re telling us because they must be operating in alignment with YHWH. I mean, these are YHWH and Yeshua’s words for how we should live our lives so the world couldn’t possibly exhibit these traits, and therefore any time we see them in someone we know whatever the person is doing for us or whatever advice they’re giving has to be in accordance with YHWH’s will, right?
Obviously not, but that’s the trap that Christianity gets us into, isn’t it? When the main message to Christians is that all we have to do is be kind to others, then everyone that’s kind to others looks like a believer that’s doing what YHWH desires. The truth is that loving your neighbor is the decision of the heart, not the spiritual realm we, or anyone else, is guaranteed to be operating in if we make that decision. The physical action we take as a result of that decision may or may not be YHWH’s will. It depends on what that physical action is based on.
That last part might be confusing, so let me explain. I saw a very insightful video the other day that showed me something I never realized before. We know there are multiple covenants between man and YHWH throughout scripture, but have you ever stopped and thought about how the three most prominent covenants tie together? The answer is that they all work together to cover the three parts of us that need to be in alignment with YHWH and His will.
In YHWH’s covenant with Abraham, where He promised to make Abraham very fruitful, the father of many nations, YHWH commanded circumcision as a sign of this covenant (Genesis 17:1-14). This is the representation of the physical part of us that has to be in alignment with YHWH. In YHWH’s covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, He provided a list of commandments which His people had to decide whether or not they would follow them, day-to-day and in every situation they were in (Exodus 20-23). This is the representation of the decision making part of us, the mind, that also has to be in alignment with YHWH. In Yeshua’s covenant with His people, He applied YHWH’s commandments to the heart (Jeremiah 31:33, Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25). He showed us how to live the commandments, where their actions should originate from, and therefore showed that the heart also has to be in alignment with YHWH.
Yeshua emphasized this aspect multiple times, and His outright statement about it during His ministry shows how all three parts of us need to work together for us, or anyone else, to be in alignment with YHWH’s will. He stated that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45, Matthew 12:34), and that tells us that everything starts in our heart. When we have something in our heart, we then have to make the decision in our mind of if we act on it, which is followed by the physical act itself. If even one of these is not aligned with YHWH, we cannot be sure we are operating in accordance with His will.
This goes the same for the people that we seek help from. If YHWH and His word is not the end all and be all in their heart in terms of truth and what is right, whatever the person decides to do is now tainted by whatever man is saying is true and right and therefore whatever physical action they take is also tainted by man’s definition of truth and right. If YHWH and His word is not the end all and be all in their mind, that person may love YHWH with all their heart but they will decide to follow what man says we should do. And if YHWH and His word is not the end all and be all in how they should act physically, that person may love YHWH with all their heart and mind but their body will not follow suit.
The last thing we’ll leave with this week is a couple verses that reinforce YHWH’s desire for us to come to Him with whatever we’re challenged by, no matter how big or how small we might think it is. Peter tells us to cast all our cares on YHWH (1 Peter 5:6-7), and what’s interesting is that he associates this with humbling ourselves before Him as well. In other words, don’t be too proud to ask for help! The Greek word used for cares could also be translated to anxieties, but it really gives the idea of being drawn or pulled in different directions, not knowing what to do. It’s the same word by Yeshua when talking about the seed sown among the thorns and how the thorns represent the cares, or anxieties, of the world that choke out the Word in the seed, making the person unable to bear fruit from it. Peter goes on to say that we should give YHWH these worries because He cares about us. He wants us to give Him our worries because He wants to help us with them.
The other verse comes from Yeshua Himself, where He tells the disciples not to worry about the things of life (Luke 12:22-28, Matthew 6:25-30). While He is obviously telling us not to worry about the day-to-day things, in the context of this week’s topic the point is that whether or not we think YHWH only cares about the big things, He actually cares about every aspect of our lives. From the decision of which job we should take or who we should marry all the way down to which socks we should wear today, He is involved and wants to be involved in it all. Don’t hesitate to ask Him for help!
So, turn to Him first for everything, rather than to man, and let Him help you and guide you with whatever it is. In order for us to know YHWH’s will in whatever we’re struggling with or challenged by, we have to ask Him first. And if He tells us to go to someone else for it, we can trust Him to guide us to a person that will operate in accordance with His will for our lives. We hope you have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
The Gospel
We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)
The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)
Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)
His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death
He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life
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