HELP!

A word for desperate times.

Dallas Willard's thick masterpiece pictured here is one that I've been enjoying for "years" (ah, 3 or so). For some reason I haven't sat down and read it cover to cover. I'm only a little over halfway as a result of taking bits and bites from time to time.

Today I reflected on a couple more pages where he's expounding his ideas on the Lord's Prayer. The lines "have mercy on us" and "lead us not into temptation" were the phases to be unpacked.

In our modern society (or postmodern depending on what lingo you prefer to use) having mercy on someone simply means to give them a break. But apparently mercy meant something deeper in yesteryear. Mercy was more like pity. Most of us do not like to be pitied. It's embarrassing and humbling. It reveals our inadequacy. To ask God for pity is to swallow our pride and recognize our need of His mercy.

In keeping with the spirit of that line, the next follows suit. I've often wondered what the purpose of asking God not to lead us to temptation was. Why would God lead a person close to sin? Dallas says that temptation, while certainly including temptation to sin, is a broader term. It refers to tests and trials in general. Peter was very confident about being able to withstand the temptation that Jesus said he was going to fail in. Yet, he did indeed fail.

To ask God to spare us from temptation is to recognize that there are dangeraous trials in this life that, without God's intervention, CAN do me in. To believe that God will spare me does not mean He won't allow them to come my way. But it does mean I can trust Him to pull me through them and to spare me from the "lion's share". To forge ahead like Peter with a false sense of security is most assuradley a recipe for disaster.

So, I guess the 4 letter word in the post title above is pretty important for keeping my relationship with God in proper perspective.