Week 20: The Wisdom of Solomon

Solomon seems to be a pretty amazing person. He was able to complete and finish the work of his father David in building the temple, and the Israelites genuinely seemed to like him. I read the stories, Psalms and Proverbs of Solomon, and there is no doubt that he was a wise man - I pray that I may have just an ounce of his discernment.

Now that we are entering summer and I'm still going to school, I felt that Psalm 127:2 might be a place I can go to find rest:

"It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones."

I think that I need to remember what I am working for - and that God will provide all that I need - even rest - if I give my burden over to him.

Week 19: Need to Slow Down

Life seems a bit crazy these days. Maybe it's spring fever, but man - am I busy lately. I love it. An interesting time to read through the Psalms. Each Psalm cries out for the reader to slow down and absorb the joy, pain, sorrow, relief, or just praise that it is offering up to God. I have not done a very good job of heeding this call to slow down - I've whizzed through line after line, mind slightly wandering. I might, just might have missed somethings.

In my rush to read and still get to sleep at a semi-reasonable hour, I managed to underline a verse or two.

"Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!"
Psalm 86:11a

Interesting, I think that I need to learn to slow down. God works through a slow build, things don't happen just because I think them or want them. The Israelites didn't walk in the desert for 40 years because it was scenic. God anointed David to be king as a young boy, and then he waited, and waited, was persecuted for a bit and then became king. There is a bigger picture and larger story that is being written all around me. Teach me your ways, O Lord. Teach me how to see the world as you do. Teach me how to love, how to forgive, how to have mercy and compassion. Teach me to slow down, to take the time to learn and understand your truth. Teach me to be up for the challenge of taking the right path, not the easy one or most convenient, but the right one. Teach me to accept the times of wandering, of waiting because you are still at work in my heart.

Week 18: I have it all

Much of the reading for the past week, and weeks to come are the Psalms. Last night when I was reading the first verse of Psalm 23 leap off the page:

"The Lord is my shepherd
I have all that I need."

Maybe it is the translation, but reading this verse last night after years and years of having it memorized, it just hit me. Do I believe that I have all that I need? Do I truly trust that God will provide for all of my needs? I know that these answers are something that I'm working on, but I think that this verse is a good reminder that I do have everything I need.

Thoughts from Streams in the Desert

The following was in my devotional from Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman, I just wanted to share these supportive words. It so easy to forget that the only way to learn and grow is to be tested. If we never encountered adversity, we would never learn how to truly be Christ-followers.

If all my days were sunny, could I say,
"In His fair land He wipes all tears away"?
If I were never weary, could I keep
Close to my heart, "He gives His loved ones sleep"?
Were no graves mine, might I not come to deem
The Life Eternal but a baseless dream?
My winter, and my tears, and weariness,
Even my graves, may be His way to bless.
***
I call them ills; yet that can surely be Nothing but love that shows my Lord to me!
--Selected
***
"The most deeply taught Christians are generally those who have been brought into the searching fires of deep soul-anguish. If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He takes you aside into a desert place, or leads you into a furnace of pain."
Do not punish me, Lord, by taking my cross from me, but comfort me by submitting me to Thy will, and by making me to love the cross. Give me that by which Thou shalt be best served . . . and let me hold it for the greatest of all Thy mercies, that Thou shouldst glorify Thy name in me, according to Thy will.
--A Captive's Prayer

Shatter the Box

I've said it before, but I didn't know reading the Old Testament would be so difficult for me this time around.  I've been putting off blogging because of this internal struggle.  It is hard for me to reconcile the characteristics of God portrayed in the Old Testament with my faith.  We hear that God is a jealous God and that he is to be feared.  I've always found it hard to understand fearing a God who is so kind, loving, merciful, etc.  Maybe it's because, as humans, we enjoy focusing on what makes us feel good and tend to disregard or push to the background things that we are uncomfortable with.  If we do this with the character of God and God himself, we undermine who he truly is and the impact that knowledge can have when applied to our lives.  In fact, it can lead to misapplication of truth and cause us and others great harm. 

God is loving, kind, merciful, gracious; yet is also jealous, just, and angry.  How do these reconcile to each other? To be loving one can argue that you must also be jealous.  True love doesn't envy, but there is a place to be jealous when someone or some thing steals the focus and affection of the one you are committed to and a time to jealously guard your affection and time with the one whom you love.  To be merciful, must you also be angry?  If you are not angry, there has not been an offense, and if there is no offense there is no reason to show mercy or forgiveness.  For what is there to forgive? And what are you to be merciful about?  This is the same with justice.  How can there be justice if there has been no wrong? And how can there be mercy, grace, and forgiveness if there is no love?  How can there be love if there is no justice?  All of God's characteristics reconcile together in perfection.

I would argue that since man was originally created in the likeness of God, our emotions were also created in the likeness of God.  The differences are our emotions are corrupted by a sinful nature, therefore, making it difficult to experience the true purity of them as experienced by God and expressed in his character.  This makes it difficult for our minds to grasp these character traits of God because our experiences of jealously, anger, hatred, etc. are tainted.

One of the biggest themes I see is that even though God demonstrates his anger, jealously, and yes, even hatred over and over again to a stubborn humanity; it is not without mercy and forgiveness.  If he didn't love humanity so passionately there would be no anger, jealously, and hatred over other gods, people, or things stealing our affection and devotion.  Not only does he continually show mercy, he uses the very people we would condemn or pass over to make the biggest impact for him.  Why? Because their hearts held true repentance for their transgressions.  Moses was a murderer.  Gideon was the least of the men in his family and from the smallest tribe of Israel.  Deborah was a woman yet led Israel as a judge.  Mary was a young, unwed girl, and the list goes on and on and on.  King David was an adulterer and murderer yet it was said that he was a man after God's own heart. 

Oh that I would be a woman after my Father's heart and my life be a vessel continually emptying of self and filling with my Savior!!!!

Week 17: Running. Again.

This week we saw David on the run again, not from Saul, but from his own son, Absalom. David is such a interesting person, and he continues to do the unexpected. After having his life and throne threatened by his own son, David openly mourns Absalom's death, "The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son" (2 Samuel 18: 33). What fatherly love (and Godly love) David demonstrates in his desire to go in his wayward son's place.

One of the verses that caught my eye this week was, Psalm 3:3:

"But you, O Lord, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high."

What great words, if you are feeling trod upon by the world. The Lord will shield you and hold up your head, even as the weight of the world bears down on it!