Fighting Against the World's Desire to Compromise Our Faith

(After the plague of locusts)
"So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?" And Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord." Then he said to them, ..."Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence."
(Exodus 10:8-10)


Pharaoh was a prideful and powerful man. As a leader of his people, he was also a politician -- he did not want to lose total face with his people if all of Israel were to leave and never come back. He knew that if Israel were to go with their possessions, they would not serve him again. So he wanted to compromise with Moses and negotiate the terms of Israel's departure.

God often gives us a clear command and in our hearts we know what He says. Sometimes we don't understand the reasons behind the prompts we are given, and oftentimes it runs against our personal comfort zones. Moses never compromised God's command. He was to bring every Israelite with their possessions out of Egypt. Pharaoh counter-offered that the men could leave, but without their households as collateral to force them to come back.

Satan wants to waterdown our beliefs, convictions and purpose. He negotiates with us while beating us down with trials in order to make us abandon our core purpose. Sometimes I am weak enough to take the lesser offer just to avoid the difficulty of maintaining my ground. At the center is my belief system and my faith. Satan wants to attack the edges of our faith and drag us closer and closer to the brink of denying God altogether. Yes, we may still believe in God and even profess faith in God, but if Jesus is no longer Lord over our lives, we are lost -- and Satan has stolen our souls.

"He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; He catches the poor when he draws himinto his net. So he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength." (Psalm 10:9-10 - Description of a wicked robber, the greatest thief is Satan himself)

Negotiation and compromise. We must be careful to never abuse the scriptures by taking it out of context to twist it to our needs. If we are in doubt, we must take a step back to look at the scriptures, Old Testament to New Testament, as a whole in order to discern meaning. The Holy Spirit will also be our guide in this.

Compromise - Putting it into the context of today, we know of a key congressman professing to be a staunch pro-life advocate who recently voted for a big healthcare legislation that opens the door to new funding for abortions. This, even after giving speech after speech against that same legislation? Why? Because he was pressured by his political party into accepting a compromise. One that has a general promise to not use the provisions in the bill, but doesn't actually take the abortion language out of the bill. It is a political promise with no guarantee. Time will tell of the outcome, but in a year or two when the current political cycle has past, isn't it likely that the promise to not fund abortions will fade? What then? This congressman will have to live with his failure to be resolute in the face of overwhelming pressure - such is the pain of compromise. Despite the fact that his inner core told him to vote "No", he was overwhelmed by the world.

Where is there compromise in my life? Am I doing anything that is not of the Lord? Am I really seeking Him first, and His righteousness? Those are pretty tough questions to answer because there are moments when I fool myself (which I think common). Compromise can come so quietly that we hardly notice. I'll have to spend time in prayer today on this topic - to take stock and an inventory of where I'm at. I know that when I was unemployed there were good times with the Lord and I got back to a strong relationship and friendship with Him. Now that I'm working and busy, I need to find out if I am slipping in any aspects of faith.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

Lord Jesus, please help me to take an inventory of where I am with You. I know that it is easy to see compromise in a public figure like a politican in a large public political fight, but it isn't always easy to see the same spirit in myself. My prayer however, is that I can stand strong in my faith in You... even in the face of losing everything that this world has to offer. May my soul never be for sale. Somethings in life, like our core beliefs, are never up to the highest bidder. Strengthen your servant to have a calm and sturdy hand even in the midst of storms - that I will always represent You in everything I do. In the name of the Jesus, the Lord of my life, AMEN.