Good Intentions Series

Good Intentions – Exodus 5-6

At their school carnival, our kids won four free goldfish (lucky us!), so out I went Saturday morning to find an aquarium.

The first few I priced ranged from $40 to $70. Then I spotted it—right in the aisle: a discarded 10-gallon display tank, complete with gravel and filter—for a mere five bucks. Sold! Of course, it was nasty dirty, but the savings made the two hours of clean-up a breeze.

Those four new fish looked great in their new home, at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but three remained. Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up.

We called in an expert, a member of our church who has a 30-gallon tank. It didn’t take him long to discover the problem: I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect.

Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives or the lives of others, we unfortunately use “killer soaps”—condemnation, criticism, nagging, fits of temper. We think we’re doing right, but our harsh, self-righteous treatment is more than they can bear.

- Richard L. Dunagin

As good as his intentions were, people lashed out at Moses. People were upset at their lives changing, for the worse and not the better, as they thought they would. But Moses was obeying God, and he pressed on.

And God broke into the situation to work His plans. Times in our lives will get tough; we will get misunderstood; we will be lashed out at. But press on. Don’t grow weary in well-doing. Don’t give up - just go on.

Galatians 6:7-10 - this passage uses a gardening analogy. What you sow, you will reap. If you sow according to the sinful nature, you will face the consequances. But if you continue to sow good seeds, good fruit will eventually come up! Hang in there! (2 Corinthians 4:1)

10 Rules for Life

1) People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

2) If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

3) If you are successful, you will gain false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

4) The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

5) Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

6) The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

7) People favor the underdog but follow only top dogs.

Fight for the underdog anyway.

8) What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

9) People really need help, but may attack you if you help them.

Help people anyway.

10) Give the world the best you’ve got and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.