Hit Me with Your Best Shot

Ever feel like God is targeting a certain message right at you? It can be scary, but I love when that happens. It reminds me that I have a personal God, not just a rule book from an out-of-touch deity.

Yesterday I had to choose a new book of the Bible to start reading for my morning Bible reading time. Like most people, I tend to gravitate toward books I love for their practical application (Do this! Be this kind of person! Avoid that!) or at least to shorter books so I can feel I've accomplished something. And okay, usually the New Testament because, hey, all that talk of animal sacrifice and wars can get downright wearisome. 

I'd just finished Mark, the shortest Gospel, to be sure, but still longer than most of the Epistles. Prior to that I had read the Psalms—great for the emotions I was dealing with as Mom became ill and was, as the Salvation Army says, "promoted to glory." So where to now?

For some reason (God, I'm guessing), I was drawn to Isaiah. Old Testament, 66 chapters, lots of prophecy (hate that) and curses. What was I thinking?

Well, God was thinking. In chapter one I came across these 3- to 4-word power-packed punches:

Cease to do evil,

Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Reprove the ruthless,

Defend the orphan,

Plead for the widow.

They come right after God tells the people he's kind of sick of their sacrifices and religious traditions himself. “Straighten up!” he says, and then gives them these specifics.

It struck me that learning to do good, and seeking justice are intentional, conscious choices. It’s not going to happen when I am operating in default mode. I need to choose.

And it occurred to me that meant choosing harder, more expensive and less convenient things like fair-trade chocolate and tea. Could I justify the extra expense?

I picked up my devotional book (Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler) and heard God laugh. In talking of Christ being our Lord, it read, “Instead of striving to do what we want when we want, we will strive to do what God wants when he wants. As we do, we will begin to understand that his lordship will not diminish or impoverish us but that it will bless us in surprising ways."

Okay, okay, I get it. Later in the day, I went to Ten Thousand Villages to pick up my fair-trade tea. Um, harder than I thought. No decaf (which accounts for more than half the tea I drink). And only small quantities of regular tea, not the bulk bags I need.

The salesperson suggested I try Equal Exchange online. That led to a futile hour-and-a-half Internet quest. And now I am overwhelmed. First, very little decaf black fair-trade tea is available in the U.S. Second, the names of all the teas are very complicated; I have no idea what translates to the equivalent of basic Lipton tea. (Blah, blah, blah; yes, I know how much better the fancy-schmancy tea will supposedly taste.) 

Third, it is very expensive. (I know, I am not supposed to worry about obedience “impoverishing” me, but when you go from a gallon of iced tea costing you about 40¢ to it costing between $1.60 to $4.80, that’s a huge difference. Especially if you drink at least a half-gallon a day as I do.) And finally, what is available is loose, not bagged tea. So now I have to deal with shlepping tea leaves?

Not sure what I’m going to do. (Drink more water?) If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. In the meantime, I’m asking God to continue to be personal and lead me to the right tea. Is that too much to ask? (And don't even get me started on the chocolate.)