Stranded – a place of total dependence upon God
Have you ever read those situational surveys, for
example, “If you were stranded on an island and could have only one thing with
you, what would it be?”1
You never read of a question worded this way, “If you were stranded on an island, what 1000 things would you want to have with you?” It defeats the nature of the question. Such hypothetical questions are forensic in nature to reveal more about ourselves; how we think, how we prioritize, what we value, et al. Hypothetical questions are endless.
I am not a huge fan of hypothetical questions involving situational ethics. For example, choosing who lives or dies in a lifeboat to keep it from sinking or whatever. If there is no right or wrong answer to what is decided in these intentionally framed questions, what’s the purpose behind it? It’s morbid speculation – justifying murder for the good of the whole, in this instance.
Imagine, if you will, you are sailing solo across the Pacific Ocean; it’s on your bucket list. You get caught in a tempestuous squall and driven way off course, hundreds of miles from the nearest inhabited location. During the storm, your sailing vessel capsizes. Miraculously, you and your inflatable raft finally wash ashore on some tiny speck of land in the Pacific Ocean far beyond the shipping lanes as best as you can tell from the navigational map tucked in a waterproof pouch in the raft.
You were prepared for such a contingency, but also included in your raft was the very thing you would want if you were ever stranded on an uninhabited island of probably intense isolation! Think of the odds of that happening if sailing solo across the Pacific is not one of the things on your to-do list before you RIP or raptured. Now, if you believe that the rapture of the Church is imminent or could happen at any moment, I suggest starting to work on that list right now, for Jesus could return for His Church at any time!
The number one answer on one of the surveys asked, “If you could have only one thing…?” The stranded individual wanted their pet with them. It kind of makes me wonder if this survey was submitted exclusively to pet owners?
The answer that was more meaningful to me on one survey was this one. “If you were stranded on an island with just one book what would it be?” This may have been a book survey; you think? It was concluded that “picking just one book is nearly impossible.” A footnote was given to say, “A ton of people also mentioned the Bible, the Quran, Robinson Crusoe, Outlander, and Harry Potter!” Surveys can be misleading as we learned from our last presidential election in 2016.
When it comes to survival stories, I used to default to Robinson Crusoe, but now, the movie, Cast Away comes to the forefront of my thinking. Chuck Noland, the FedEx employee played by the American actor, Tom Hanks in 2000, was the only survivor of a Fed Ex plane that crashed in the Pacific. Noland was stranded for four years on a deserted tropical island.
Unlike Crusoe, Chuck Noland had a personified friend by the name of Wilson, a volleyball that washed up on the island from that FedEx plane crash. Wilson was a well-rounded actor who had no speaking lines but should have gotten an Oscar for his riveting performance in my opinion. This guy was on the ball! He ended up leaving Chuck near the end.
No, this being on a deserted tropical island in the Pacific alone in the middle of nowhere is not my cup of tea. I like my privacy, but I am not a hermit by any stretch of the imagination, forced or unforced.
I would like to share with you why we should choose the Bible as the one book we would want if we were marooned on an island or some remote location! There are no situational ethics involved here, just a strange answer according to the world’s take on the Bible that considers it useless, outdated, overrated, irrelevant, arcane, archaic, contradictory, irrational, and mythical. We who believe the Bible is the Word of God, see it much differently and do not share the world’s opinion; it is priceless beyond any measure of the imagination for those who love the Word of Yahweh.
If living in Gal 5:16 mode, we would not be stranded unless it was God’s will in the first place. Let’s give some perspective on the value Jesus places on Scripture in Matthew 4 when He was alone (cf. Mt 4:11) being tempted by the devil after forty days of fasting [bracket notes added].
(Mat 4:3) Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If [since] You are the Son of God [Satan knew Jesus was the Messiah, he was soliciting Jesus to do something evil by misusing His power as the Messiah for selfish ends: to satisfy His personal need.] command that these stones become bread.” [Satan was attacking Jesus after He was weak and tired having not eaten for forty days. He was hungry (v2) is a reflection of His humanity].
(Mat 4:4) But He [Jesus] answered and said, It is written [By this clause, Jesus is introducing an inspired, authoritative quotation from the OT, in this case, Deut 8:3. Compare from the mouth of God with inspiration (Gk, theopneustos, lit, God breathed in 2 Tim 3:16], man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Keep in mind that the Sermon on the Mount is just around the corner (Matthew 5-7), and in Jesus’ pattern of prayer for the disciples, found in Mt 6:9-13, recall this petition,
Give us this day our daily bread (v.11). We are looking to the Source of our daily bread.
God knows we have need of daily necessities such as food, water, and clothing (Mt 6:31-33). But we must not lose sight of the context of what Jesus is saying to the devil. Jesus had been fasting for forty days. Imagine us fasting for that length of time – 9-1-1! He had to have been hungrier than all get out, which makes Jesus’ answer to the devil so amazing, by quoting from Deut 8:3, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Recall that Israel’s food in their wilderness experience was the what is it food (Ex 16:15). Some commentators have speculated this might be the origin of southern grits…? The what is it (manna) ended as a food source as soon as the Israelites ate the food from the land of Canaan (Josh 5:12).
Though the manna from heaven physically sustained the Israelites during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, ultimately it was God who kept them alive. Do you see that? The manna appeared because God commanded it. Literally, it was by His very words that they were kept alive. No words or decree, no manna.
There was not a feasible alternative food source to sustain the 2-3 million Israelites out in the middle of nowhere in an austere and barren land. They were totally dependent upon God for their very survival. Apart from His word for manna to fall from heaven, they would have all perished in the wilderness. Thus, Moses reminded the Israelites of this in Deuteronomy 8:2-3 before entering the Promised Land.
There was a real danger of the Israelites growing spiritually independent of God after partaking in the bounty of the Promised Land. No longer would they be totally dependent upon God for sustenance as in the days of manna. They needed to be reminded of the principle in Deut 8:3. When we are blessed by God today, there is also that possibility of living independently of God. We spiritually err when we think it is by the work of our hands that has sustained us.
There was a real danger of the Israelites growing spiritually independent of God after partaking in the bounty of the Promised Land. No longer would they be totally dependent upon God for sustenance as in the days of manna. They needed to be reminded of the principle in Deut 8:3. When we are blessed by God today, there is also that possibility of living independently of God. We spiritually err when we think it is by the work of our hands that has sustained us.
When Jesus completed his fasting for forty days in the wilderness, Satan attempted to tempt Jesus to seek an alternate food source to alleviate His hunger (Mt 4:1-3). Unlike the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus had the ability to turn those stones, pointed out by the devil, into bread to meet His personal needs, but He refused to do so because His will was to do the will of the Father (cf. Lk 22:42; Jn 4:34; 6:38) – It is written (Mt 4:4). Stones were not on the menu of God’s will. It is an extremely powerful response to the tempter.
It was not God’s will for Jesus to use His supernatural powers to circumvent the will of the Father and produce an alternate food source. He would only eat when God commanded Him to eat; He was the Source, not Him. Until then, Jesus would remain weary, hungry, and tired and still to be tempted two more times!
Jesus was providing a fundamental but crucial spiritual principle. God, the Source of manna, was of greater importance than the manna itself. In other words, God’s will is greater than our will. This is a conceptualization of Christlikeness! God the Father’s will for Jesus was for Him to be hungry when confronted by the devil.
It was also God the Father’s decision that Jesus would be tempted by the devil. The hunger and discomfort would end when the Father decided, not Jesus. This is so Christlike – obedience over personal need. This is why Jesus refused to perform a miracle to alleviate the unrelenting agony in His gut; it was not in the will of the Father. Self-will must subordinate to His will; for Jesus to be Lord in our lives, our will must take a backseat to the will of God, Otherwise, He is not Lord in our lives because we are in the driver’s seat.
This first of three temptations involved the priority of wills, the gratification of the desires of the flesh outside the will of God. We are constantly being pressed to go beyond the will of God to meet a personal need; aren’t we? Goodness, there seems to be no let-up by our adversary!
Rather than waiting for Jesus to make that decision for us, the devil tempts us to think that our will is far more important than God’s will. Rather than waiting on God, we are tempted to go on and make that decision as if God’s will didn’t matter. It does matter, my friends; it matters.
Jesus was not attempting to prove anything to the Father or Himself during the temptation. On the contrary, the temptation was for the benefit of us who believe. Through it all, Jesus showed His sinlessness and gave us a pattern to follow when we are tempted or solicited to do evil. Quoting the Word reminds us of our obligation to obey God’s commands (cf. Josh 1:8), and it causes Satan to flee (cf. Mt 4:10; Jas 4:7).
Why would we choose that one thing to have if we were stranded to be the Bible? Because the needs of the spiritual (eternal) outweigh the physical needs (temporal). It is inevitably God meeting our needs, not us. When we are not totally dependent upon the Lord, we have a tendency to run independently of Him (cf. Psa 119:67). Being stranded is actually spiritually healthy for us because we become God-dependent in our living rather than self-sufficient and living independently of God. Believe it or not, we choose to be stranded because of willful disobedience. Better is it to be living a life of being stranded in obedience to God!
Whenever we feel isolated or stranded somewhere, we know that it is written that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5b). Being stranded doesn’t mean He loves us any less. His agape is an unwavering love for the believer. There isn’t a more emphatic promise from God than that one – His guaranteed presence in our lives as believers no matter who, what, when, where, or how! Are you stranded (totally dependent upon God) or are you sufficient (independent of God)? The difference is massive as the eternal state is to the temporal state. <><
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https://www.bookstr.com/which-book-would-you-have-on-a-desert-island
