Stupid fast food

^{Psalm 14 (The Message)}

¹ Sickening and bloated, they gas, "God is gone."
Their words are poison gas,
fouling the air; they poison
Rivers and skies;
thistles are their cash crop.

² God sticks his head out of heaven.
He looks around.
He's looking for someone not stupid—
one man, even, God-expectant,
just one God-ready woman.

³ He comes up empty. A string
of zeros. Useless, unshepherded
Sheep, taking turns pretending
to be Shepherd.
The ninety and nine
follow their fellow.

⁴ Don't they know anything,
all these impostors?
Don't they know
they can't get away with this—
Treating people like a fast-food meal
over which they're too busy to pray?

^5-6 Night is coming for them, and nightmares,
for God takes the side of victims.
Do you think you can mess
with the dreams of the poor?
You can't, for God
makes their dreams come true.

⁷ Is there anyone around to save Israel?
Yes. God is around; God turns life around.
Turned-around Jacob skips rope,
turned-around Israel sings laughter.

Have you ever said it?

You can admit it. It happens to almost everyone. In our most human and least spiritual moments, we definitely think it, and maybe say it.

"God is gone."

It's not true, but we can feel that way. What is our spiritual state at that moment?

We like to use words like, "frustrated," "disillusioned," "broken," "angry" or "hurt." Those are good words, and they probably are all fair descriptions of what goes on inside us sometimes.

But how does Psalm 14 describe us in those moments?

sickening
poisonous
bloated
foul
stupid
pretentious
impostors
too busy

You know, I may not like hearing the words in that list...but I hope I remember them.

The next time we're tempted to say, "God is gone," just remember: don't be stupid.

Spiritual food isn't fast. It's slow, and it's the good stuff. It's the real stuff.

Grace & Peace,
Adam