Absence or denial of God

All our troubles come about because of a lack of focus on God. I made that statement several years ago, and the more I live the more I see the truth of it. We need Him in our lives. I just read the passage about Zedekiah in Jeremiah. He was king, the city was surrounded and he met secretly to ask if Jeremiah had a message from God for him. Jeremiah did- surrender the city, Zedekiah would be protected and honored, and live out his life. Don't surrender the city, it would be burned, he would be killed and unburied, his family would be destroyed.

Looking at it from our side of scripture, the choice seems clear. Most of us would even boast that we would have done what God asked. Are you sure? Have you ever remembered a time when you felt God leading, and yet you didn't act? Maybe you listened to the dirty joke, maybe you continued the spread of what you realized was gossip. Why did you do those things? Were you afraid of what someone might think or do if you didn't "go along". Isn't that what Zedekiah did? He let his fear of man trump what God asked him to do, and we today in a lot of ways do just the same thing.

I see two reasons, our understanding of God is limited. Zedekiah believed God could not protect him from men. I see myself "called on the carpet" if I share my faith too much in class, and a student decides that he/she could use that to their advantage. I see the scene clearly. If God wants me to share to a lost and dying world, He probably will protect me, but I entertain doubt- like Zedekiah. Doubt leads to actions- a very true statement.

Health care has been in the news, and this is the example I've been thinking of that has brought me back to my original statement. We as a people have lost our focus on God. It is a tragedy that people suffer for lack of health care. It is even a greater tragedy that a lack of the knowledge of God is what is fueling this. People generally have denied God, or turned from Him leading them to the conclusion that this life is all there is. If that is so then "I" need to live as long as "I" can. Therefore "I" need health care. ("I" is there to emphasize a selfish voice).

Along another fork there is the mentality that since this life is it, I need to be rich. If "I" can sue a doctor for malpractice, then I'm set for life. Doctors are human, humans make mistakes, allowing for other humans to come along and take advantage of this. Do you know of any lawyers in Congress that have made part of their fortunes seeking damages to "injustices"? Isn't it interesting that their fee is based on settlement amount? Some doctors are careless, others make decisions that ultimately are incorrect. How this ties into health care costs is that those doctors are going to order every test possible in order to limit the possibility they are incorrect. These tests costs, which isn't a problem because if you have insurance they will "cover it".

Another fallacy "its covered". In order for insurance to work as designed more people have to pay in more than they will ever get back in claims. Also part of what is paid in goes to the salaries and overhead of the insurance companies. So paying for health care through insurance is more expensive than out of pocket as the need arises. Couple that with the prices of procedures and it becomes a runaway freight train.

"Government health care will let your doctor decide what is best for you"- this sounds wonderful, but what aren't they telling you? At some point your doctor may say its best for you to die, because its too expensive to treat you. To truly control costs procedures will be limited that someone decides would gain the most benefit.

I'm out in the weeds, if your focus is on God, and you have a relationship with Him, then you aren't self focused. You know there is life beyond this one, and you long for it. So why want to live as long as you can here? You realize doctors are human, and sometimes they make mistakes, and you aren't looking to be set for life (you and your children), so you wouldn't be looking to litigate. If you are a Christian doctor and you realize your mistake (or that someone is suffering) you are going to do your part to rectify that mistake in this lifetime. Litigation goes away from both sides. Malpractice insurance (with their premiums goes away)- health care costs are reduced. Lawyers have to get real jobs. Side note - lawyers should read through the Bible yearly- actually everyone should. See how the lack of focus on God has got us to where we are at? Both forks end at the Cross.

We need to be less like Zedekiah. I was going to say - "and more like the Apostle Paul", but he penned the lines about doing things he didn't want to, and not doing the things he should. He too was closer to the human condition than we sometimes want to acknowledge. The human condition of selfishness and this life focused- as opposed to God focused.