HAIL OMNIPYSCHOLOGIST!!!
Story time folks!!! Let’s board a time machine and visit the era of English theatres and circuses’. A psychiatrist had a patient suffering from a severe bout of depression. And the wise Doctor’s prescription after examination! “Go and entertain yourself, by seeing the famous clown Grimaldi performing in the circus in the town today, his antics are bound make you laugh…you sure would find some relief”. Instantly the patient broke down much to the astonishment of the mind Doctor. The psychiatrist could barely hear his patient muttering “Doc, I am Grimaldi”. Talk of "masking" the GRIM sentiments even while making people laugh. Honestly, Grimaldi went to a wrong doctor. He ought to have visited Dr. Jesus, the omnipyschiatrist, ever willing to give ABUNDANT LIFE, WITH EVER-FLOWING JOY OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT (John 4:13-14/10:10/Galatians 5:22-23).
While, we have praised God always for being an omnipotent, omnipresent and an omniscient one (sorry, Mr. Google, you can never compete with Him, who knows everything about everything!), have we ever praised God for being an omni-psychologist, also? If not, it’s time we do, as there are enough examples in His Word, of He conditioning the human mind, like a seasoned psychologist does.Yes, He addresses and meets the deep needs of the spirit (filling the spiritual vacuum in our hearts, as it were with His joyous presence) besides working on our minds too. If feeding Elijah by using “unclean” Ravens (Leviticus 11:13-15) as stewards, was a case of preparing His servant “mentally”- in Old Testament days- to stay in “an unclean” gentile home (that of widow of Zarephath-I Kings 1:17) for 3 years, then was not the case of vision to Peter as recorded in Acts 10:9-16, Almighty’s distinctive way of conditioning His prejudiced servant’s mind to visit an unclean “gentile home”- in New Testament days? Yes, it was. No second thoughts on this score, please!
Hey, there is other side of the coin too. He can build-up His dear ones’ mentally, even while mentally disintegrating His enemies. In order to substantiate this point, let’s board a time machine once again (God’s Word by creative study is to be enjoyed thoroughly, mind you it’s sweeter than honey-Psalm 119:103) and visit the Israelites camped on the other side of River Jordan, waiting under the leadership of Joshua to launch the “Conquest of Canaan” (Joshua chapter 3) AFTER INITIALLY CROSSING RIVER JORDAN.
To completely comprehend the nuances of this subject “the Conquest of Canaan”, we need to consider two aspects. Firstly, while on Joshua’s generation lay the daunting responsibility of annihilating the strong inhabitants of Canaan and seizing the Land flowing with milk and honey, which God had promised to their forefathers (Genesis 12:6-7), the picture becomes complete and lucid only when we focus on the second aspect that is the terrible spiritual state of the Canaanites, at that point in history. The impending extermination, which loomed before the wicked Canaanites was actually a just punishment for their horrific sins (ripe for punishment now-Genesis 15:16 ) which amongst others included sacrificing of the innocent babies to loathsome idols, homosexuality, having sexual relationship with animals etc (Leviticus 18:21-28). The latter observation (the imminent just punishment of the Canaanites) leads to a subject within a subject. Can God punish the heathen, who do not have His written law and as such may not be bound by it? The Bible answers this question with an emphatic YES, since “God’s laws are written within the hearts of everyone (Jew or gentile)”. Does not the inbuilt divine alarm piece within every human being (conscience) immediately start ringing, the moment anyone does anything wrong in violation of God’s moral code of conduct (Romans 2:12-15)?
Turning to the event of CROSSING RIVER JORDAN (Joshua Chapter 3), we come across four truths laden with insight (spread out like rich fare on a generous table), which we shall aim to study under the following sub-headings
I. When the biggest, brings out His best
II. Do the possible, leave the impossible to Him
III. When the distance guaranteed His presence
IV. First in, last out
I. When the biggest, brings out His best :
Honestly, the great miracle of Jews crossing the miraculously parted River Jordan has some parallels with astounding miracle Jesus did in raising the dead Lazarus (John 11). Remember Jesus made a move to go village of Bethany (where Lazarus stayed with his two sisters), only after Lazarus had died and not when he was sick, for only in raising a dead Lazarus would more of God’s power be manifested.
In this account of parting of waters of River Jordan, do not we see a similarity? God chose the time, when the River was in spate overflowing its banks (verse 15a) DELIBERATELY to perform the great miracle of parting it, so that this miracle would leave none in doubt about His great power. Oh how Joshua and his men needed this MENTAL BUILD UP as they were about to launch themselves-equipped by His power- into a daunting task of conquering Canaan!
Be encouraged by the fact that in our own Christian journey, bigger the trials, more would be His power of deliverance at our disposal, for His character never changes. He is the same God yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).
II Do the possible, leave the impossible to Him:
Continuing with the comparison of Joshua chapter 3 with John chapter 11, let’s also focus upon Jesus ordering the well-wishers of the bereaved family to remove the tombstone of Lazarus (John 11:39). This was certainly “possible” for them being well within their physical capacities, so that to the Lord they could leave the task of accomplishing THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (raising a man who was dead for four days)!
Let’s also train the spotlight on what the priests were required to do in the miracle of crossing River Jordan on dry ground. All they were required to do was “the possible” of laying their foot on the River (verse 15b), while to God remained the remainder of the task of parting it. Does not the mental reassurance that, we need not bother about doing the impossible, take a lot of weight off our shoulders, psyching us up when we face insurmountable problems?
Yes, it pays in our in our Christian sojourn too, when confronted by a seemingly “Goliathan” problem, to prayerfully do what is possible, leaving the impossible to Him. All along, if to David belongs the responsibility of slinging the stone at a mighty giant to God belongs the task of directing it, to its target! The very thought that God rejoices in doing the impossible for us, boosts us up psychologically, isn’t it? For instance whilst sharing the gospel with a rabid atheist, be encouraged to do your part of sharing what the Lord means to you faithfully and leave the impossible of convicting and transforming the hard-hearted one to the Lord. Didn’t apostle Paul toe this line successfully whilst dealing with the Greek philosophers of varied schools of thought (Acts 17:18-34)?
III When the distance (from the ark) guaranteed His presence:
Ever wondered why the good Lord ordered that there should be a good half-mile gap between the Priests carrying the ark (symbolic of God’s presence) and the rest of the people who followed them (verse 4)? If it were to merely maintain the sanctity of the Holy Ark, then even a gap of 100 feet would have served the purpose. So what exactly was the “sanctity” behind maintaining a half-mile gap? The reason was, He wanted all His people (even those walking at the back) to gaze at the ark only and not cast an eye at surging walls of water on their either side. Without this half-mile gap, those closer to the ark would have hindered the view (of the ark) of those who were walking at the rear. This distance (between ark and the people) guaranteed His presence to all, giving a psychological boost to them! At the other end of the spectrum is Peter. Remember what happened to him (Matt 14:25-30), when he removed his gaze off Jesus and looked around whilst walking on water? One look at the surging waves and he disintegrated mentally! God did not want His people to become jittery, as they crossed the River, because frenzied reaction of even “a few Peters” could trigger a mass panic reaction leading to a tragic stampede, that’s why He wanted their gaze to be firmly fixed on the ark.
In the midst of trying circumstances, are we (the modern day followers of the great God) “keeping our eyes focused on Him” or we getting distracted by the enormity of the problems at hand? Remembering that His presence is ever with us (Matt 28:20b) is the sure-shot way of tiding over difficult circumstances. The whipped and imprisoned Paul and Silas would vouch for this. No wonder in the midst of a severe adversity, instead of becoming psychological wrecks, they sang His praises (Acts 16:25)! The end result? A miraculous release from imprisonment!!!
IV First in, last out:
In the assembly line of a factory rolling off finished products, the FIFO (first in, first out) method is adhered to, but what about the beeline of people crossing River Jordan? It had a strange divine order of its own. The Priests, who were the “first” to enter the River carrying the ark, were the “last” to come out of it (verse 17). There they stood in the middle of the River carrying the ark, stopping the surging waters of River Jordan, needless to say, enduring all the incidental inconveniences, till all their countrymen numbering up to 20 lacs had reached the safety of the shore on the other side of River Jordan. What a selfless action (borne out of steadfast dedication to God), worthy of emulation! Not for these priests, the selfish desire of reaching the shore first! How could they do it? BECAUSE, THEY REALIZED THAT BY STANDING IN THE CENTRE OF RIVER JORDAN, THEY WERE ACTUALLY STANDING RIGHT IN THE CENTRE OF GOD’S WILL, ITSELF! What greater psychological boost, any servant would need than to know that all his sacrificial actions are PLEASING TO HIS MASTER!!!
Even as we rejoice about our salvation on receiving Christ into our lives, are we concerned about “the spiritual safety” of the fellow travelers in our Christian journey? Are we concerned about their “safe passage” also, to the other side of “River Jordan”? When our fellow believers backslide do we prayerfully reach out to them (James 5:19-20) or do we leave them “to their fate”? Honest soul-searching on this front would do no harm to the cause of Christ! Here I am not talking about the unsaved millions. Our mission in relation to them is different but at this point, I am focusing solely on our responsibility vis-à-vis those whose spiritual lives have gone adrift. Apostle Paul’s epistle to the backslidden Galatian Church speaks volumes about His concern for those who have gone astray. Do we exhibit the same burning desire in our task of reclaiming our lost brethren, even if it means swallowing “the bitter pill” of persecutions and rejections at times? Our greatest psychological incentive in all these ought to be the realization of the simple fact that all our actions, HOWEVER DIFFICULT TO PERFORM ARE PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT!!!
After having dwelt upon the ancillary spiritual lessons revolving around the theme of “PSYCHOLOGY”, emanating out of the account of the Jews crossing the River Jordan, let’s now come to the punch line. What happened as a result of this stupendous miracle? While, Joshua and his men got a much-needed psychological boost on realizing that the Almighty was fully on their side, the wicked Canaanites disintegrated mentally! Let the Scripture take over...
“When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them” (Joshua 5:1). Talk of losing a battle, even before the army bugle has sounded…
So long before even the phrase “Psychology Professor” was coined by anyone, is there any doubt, on who has been the MASTER of the same? Oh Father, you are not only omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent one but in addition to all these, you have all along been an OMNI PSYCHOLOGIST also! HALLELUJAH!
Dear Readers, are you not psyched up on realizing this? If so, once again mouth a “HALLELUJAH”! More loudly please…NO THEOLOGY IS COMPLETE WITHOUT DOXOLOGY!!!
(Suresh Manoharan)
www.jandsmministries.com
