Divine Danger

For the last month I've been flipping through the photo album of the life of David, the king of Israel, as told in I and II Samuel. A few of those snapshots have made their way into sermons that my congregation has been gracious enough not to cough and write notes through (at least not too much).

David was a man after God's own heart, which might lead some of us to think that God's anointing would guarantee that David's scrapbook would be stuffed with perfect pictures. We might expect his life to exemplify the easy exchange of faithfulness and fulfillment that some of those purple-suited preachers promise on television. Isn't that the way it is supposed to work? We do our part and God does His! Isn't life with God supposed to be comfortable and safe? The problem is that God is far to loving and passionate to not be dangerous.

Brent Curtis and John Eldredge put it this way:

"When we think of God being good, we perhaps picture someone like Al on the popular TV program,Home Improvement. He is someone who carefully plans out each task ahead of time and has all the proper tools and safety equipment in place; someone who has thought out every possible danger ahead of time and made allowances to ensure our safety as his workmate; someone who goes to bed early, gets plenty of rest, and wears flannel shirts as a mark of reliability."

"Being in partnership with God, though, often feels much more like being Mel Gibson's sidekick in the movie Lethal Weapon. In His determination to deal with the bad guy, he leaps from seventh-story balconies into swimming pools, surprised that we would have any hesitation in following after him. Like Indiana Jones's love interest in the movies, we find ourselves caught up in an adventure of heroic proportions with a God who both seduces us with his boldness and energy and repels us with his willingness to place us in mortal danger, suspended over pits of snakes."

God lives and loves adventure! That's why David's video yearbook has him darting in and out of caves, running for his life, fighting battles, killing giants and dancing before the Lord.

Life with God has never been safe. But oh, what an adventure!