Manipulation

Manipulation.

When all is done, there is nothing to be done, except wait. Anything else would be manipulation.

For instance, it’s like a cup of coffee sitting in front of me. The beans have been brewed, the coffee itself poured from the confines of the coffee pot, the sugar and cream added. Gently it has been stirred.

Is it complete?

No.

Not precisely.

Let us agree that it needs to cool a little. It’s too hot. To drink it would burn your tongue.

But the best thing to do is to let it cool for a few minutes.

You could manipulate it. You could blow on it, but if you blow too hard the coffee might spill out of the cup, onto the table, and you would lose the tiny, precious drops.

You could put it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool it down. You might leave it in too long and it will ice up or freeze.

You could add some ice cubes, yet that would dilute the taste.

Add some more sugar (which is terribly non-sensical, but that’s never stopped me from doing something), but that might make it too sweet for the proper taste.

More cream and its consistency is too creamy.

So what do you?

Maybe you gently blow on it and you clasp it gently in your hands, holding it close to your mouth. The blowing on the coffee doesn’t affect it so much as your hands, which shimmy and shake ever so little. Without realizing it, you tip the cup ever so slightly forward, and then when you blow on the coffee, a tiny drop jumps over the rim of the cup and escapes onto your clothes beneath.

The best recourse?

Leave the cup of coffee on the table. Get up from your chair and take care of that paperwork. Make that important phone call that will only take five to ten minutes. Get the kids out the door onto the school bus. Put those items away that you’ve been putting off.

In other words, shift your focus for the time being.

It’s only five or ten minutes.

But five or ten minutes will leave your cup of coffee intact. It won’t be diluted. It won’t have ice chips in it. It won’t be too sugary. Not too creamy. All the droplets will be there.

Because a good cup of coffee is like waiting for Schlotzsky’s to open.

It just takes time.

And the least amount of manipulation of the cup of coffee will depend on how good it tastes.

I Samuel 13:5-15

Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.

Sometimes, our problems seem to be gathered against us, ready for battle, just like the Philistines gathered against Israel. And just like Israel, we begin to become overwhelmed by our situation.

Presently, God could be saying, “Not now,” to you.

Just like Samuel told Saul, “Don’t sacrifice now, I’ll be there in seven days.”

But you’re growing antsy.

Restless.

Desperate.

Don’t sacrifice before its time to sacrifice. I know, I know. The chariots are all around you. The walls of the world are claustrophobically closing in on you with the cares and desires of this world. You want to scream because the walls are inching ever so close. You have to do something. You must do something. You must – sacrifice?

Especially don’t sacrifice if it seems like all the time has run out. Your Samuel could be just over the horizon.

Over the horizon comes Samuel. But Samuel did not bring words of affirmation with him, he brought questions of irritation. “What have you done?”

But Saul had to do it himself. He had to try to manipulate the situation. Anything not done according to God’s prescription is a manipulation. Saul replied, “I felt compelled.” I have no doubt that Saul “felt” compelled, but the truth is we ALWAYS feel compelled. We always want to touch and prod and poke at our circumstances, vainly attempting to make the situation more amicable to our own desires.

Samuel’s response? “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you.” The penalty for manipulating? An end to Saul’s family’s reign over Israel.

That last line will leave you silent.

I don’t know if the prescription for our present day manipulating is an end to our gift from God. However, it does seem to push the arrival date off. Or, you might be able to manipulate the situation and get what you want sooner, but with consequences.

You see, the right thing, at the wrong time, is the wrong thing.

You see, what you need is for everything to line up and be in order so that the equation reads: the right thing, at the right time, is the right thing.

Saul had the right thing, did it at the wrong time, and ended up with the wrong thing.

Saul had his cup of coffee. He had to blow on it and spill the drops (of his family’s eternal reign). Saul had to add more cream and sugar so he could go to battle. Saul had to drink from the cup of coffee and burn his tongue. He thought he would enjoy the taste of the coffee, but instead it burned his taste buds and he had trouble following God ever since.

Saul manipulated his cup of coffee and thereby had trouble following God from then on out because he couldn’t “taste” God correctly anymore.

(c) 2008, Aaron Brown