Remember the Defeat of Sihon

Deuteronomy 2:22-31         1/18/2018

Moses mentioned how God had put a “fear and dread” of the Israelites in the peoples of the surrounding nations. God foretold of Sihon’s defeat, yet Moses offered peaceful terms in exchange for safe passage through Sihon’s land. Sihon attacked and was defeated.

God Made Sihon Stubborn

In the passage it mentions that God made Sihon stubborn in his heart. This is why he attacked, even though Moses had offered peaceful terms.

It’s always fearful when I hear those words, “God made him stubborn in mind and obstinate in heart”. It’s like when Moses says, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart”

The Heart of a King

In Proverbs it says, “A king’s heart is channeled water in the hand of the Lord; God directs it where he pleases.” It almost sounds like kings lack the liberty to choose.

Sihon and Pharaoh: Did neither of these men have anything to do with their outcome? Of course, the more pressing, implied question is: Do I have anything to do with mine? Do I control anything? Because if I don’t – what am I even doing here?

Freedom

True freedom is always toward some achievement. The idea of “freedom” is much closer to the idea of skill and capacity then it is to the idea of unfettered choice. A skilled artist is “free” to produce beauty. A skilled technician is free to diagnose and repair. Without those respective skills, no one could not describe themselves as free in either discipline.

So freedom is the result of habit. I behave in the ways that I do because past choices have produced in me – in my mind, in my brain – certain routine ways of responding to my circumstances. These patterns of behavior take on their own momentum and trajectory – my patterns of behavior don’t turn on a dime. Even if I want my heart to change, it’s just not that easy.

Pay Attention

So I start here – with what I pay attention to. I will spend some time today deliberately choosing what I pay attention to. I will practice thinking about one person; about their virtues, about their goodness. I will praise God for who that person is – for who that person is becoming – for who that person is in Christ. I will praise God that I am able to see that person in a light that transcends how they can serve me. I think I must be at least that free.

Would that Sihon had chosen better.

Perhaps not even God can resist such a determination. Perhaps this is what God meant for me to do from the very beginning.