Are You Superstitious?

By Rondi Lauterbach

Sometimes I act bewitched, or at least superstitious. I live as if I’m under a curse.

When I lose my favorite jacket, I don’t just retrace my steps to try to find it, I think, “Oh no, here we go again.”  My phone disappears next. Frantically searching every possible hiding place, I muse, “These things always happen in threes.”  My car keys are the final thing to go, but calmness prevails as I look for them, since the curse is now broken.

Do you ever knock on wood, avoid walking under a ladder, or cross your fingers?

Even in my Christian life I have noticed superstitious behavior. If I haven’t had my quiet time, it’s going to be a bad day.  A secular friend picks that day to “pop the gospel question.”  How can I witness to her when I haven’t even prayed today or read my Bible? So the next day I make up for it by taking twice the time I normally do for these spiritual exercises. There.  Bring it on. I’m all prayed up.

Relying on the Law

When I rely on my obedience to avoid curses and earn blessings, I am relying on the law. No wonder I feel jinxed. The standard of the law is perfection. Blessing only comes to those who are perfect, who never mess up. I’m fooling myself if I think I can go back and fix it. A doubled and long quiet time doesn’t replace a missed quiet time. Not perfect.

Some of the laws I live by aren’t found in the Bible.  Each brings its own type of curse to the one who fails it. There’s the law of remembering birthdays, the law of faithful parenting, the law of simply “doing my best.” How do I measure that in a way that lets me off the hook?

Relying on the law, any law, for blessing will only bring a curse. No wonder I act superstitious. I’m ducking curses all over the place.

The Curse Finds Its Target

Another person faced a curse far worse than the ones I am ducking. Come imagine with me for a moment. You can see a poor man dangling from a tree. He must have really messed up. Curses have battered him bloody. His clothes are in tatters, hands hanging limp, is he even alive? A moan floats through the air. I come near to listen, gasp when I see him up close.  He barely looks human. He looks more like a curse than a man. At that moment he opens his eyes and looks right into mine. Love, focused love, without reproach. That curse he just took was meant for me.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to…you and me (Gal. 3:13-14).

Are you ducking a curse today?  See it land on him, then run to the empty tomb and stand in the torrent of blessing God is pouring through Jesus to all who trust him.

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Rondi entered the Ivy League full of personal ambition and left under a new Master. Her passion is to help women see Jesus in the Word and be nourished by him. She has been a pastor’s wife for over thirty years, a mother of three, and now a very happy grandmother. She and her husband Mark live in San Diego.

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