Fickle Faith

     In this week's Bible study we read Genesis 27, the chapter in which Isaac tries to trick Rebekah and Jacob by giving Esau the blessing God had promised to Jacob, then Rebekah and Jacob trick Isaac into thinking Jacob is Esau. When the deception is revealed, Esau wants kill Jacob. This ancient story has all the makings of a modern soap opera, and the surreal twists and scheming of, so called, "reality" shows. The essence of the story is fickle faith. Isaac believes in the promises, but thinks he can control who inherits them. Rebekah and Jacob believe the promises, but not that God can give them to Jacob without their "help". I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they hadn't interfered. I assume that the reason Rebekah didn't just admit to Isaac that she had overheard and remind him of God's prophecy, is that he had become an unreasonable old geezer.  I also assume the reason Jacob didn't object to the wrongness of the scheme was because deception had become an accepted part of the family dynamic.
     What Isaac seemed to have forgotten from his Moriah moment and Rebekah from her problem pregnancy prayer, is that God is perfectly capable of speaking for Himself. He could have told Isaac no. Isn't that just like us? When I was a young wife, I believed God could save my eternal soul from hell but wasn't sure He could help us pay the electric bill. Which one of those is harder?  I used to advise God on ways He could answer my prayers--just in case He was out of ideas. I also had suggestions for how God could bring about a friend's salvation or a family member's spiritual growth.  It is easy to think that if the people we care about could just attend my church or Bible study, if they could just hear this sermon or read this article, then they would know and grow in the Lord. The Lord may lead us to invite to any or all of the above, but it is important to recognize that compliance with those outward things is not the same as responding to the Spirit.
     The day I realized I am not the Holy Spirit was probably the happiest day of my husband's married life. The reason I stopped giving God pointers in how to answer my prayers was the slow dawning realization that He had never used any of my suggestions. He answered those prayers for salvation and spiritual growth through means I would never have thought of.  My fickle faith believed he would answer, but not without my help, often in the form of lectures. God has appointed both the ends and the means. It is a blessing to be part of the means of God's working in someone's life, but insisting that I am the means is just unbelief dressed in church clothes--fickle faith in finery.