Doug Van Pelt

The Mysterious Distance Between A Man And A Woman

I am thrilled to think that this new issue will get finished. There was a time two days ago when I was wondering, 'Is this issue ever going to get done?' I was having a big case of procrastination. You could call it "writer's block," but it wasn't that I didn't have anything to write. I kind of knew the direction I need to go in, I just didn't want to tackle it. That's it! Instead of "Procrastination," I'll call it "Mark Ricker Syndrome." (He was a 19-year old strong and fast running back from Tehachapi that was in our league in high school. There was a certain fear around the subject of tackling him, wondering if he'd plow you over and make you look bad. Ha ha.

I read this morning about Achan, in chapter 7 of Joshua. He did what was forbidden, and took some of the loot from Babylonia and hid it under his tent. The next battle that Israel faced, against Ai, went horribly wrong. Turns out that God wasn't going to bless Israel on the battlefield when they acted this way, so He had Joshua gather all the families, all the clans, all the tribes, and God would point out the one who had secretly done this. When faced with it, Achan confessed and men were sent to his tent, where they found all the plunder. Achan's sin took him down, but also his family. That's some serious stuff.

I'm reminded of that great verse in 1 Corinthians (10:13), which states,

"No temptation has seized you, except what is common to man. God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

That is an amazing promise. When we feel like God isn't there or God isn't involved in my daily life, we are forgetting about this very active, very real promise. All our prayers and cries for a miracle could be ignoring the presence of God in our daily life -- His provision during temptation.