Reading the Bible is a source of encouragement.
Really. And I don't necessarily mean huge spiritual insights and an experience of the infinite. Yes, that can occur and it is wonderful if it does.
What I mean is this: Scripture paints pictures of people with really big flaws...and then shows us how God uses them. I am more and more convinced that if God can use Abraham, Jacob, and Adam, then He can use me. These men all had their strong points but they also had a sizable amount of flaws.
Today we continued to read through Genesis and sometimes I almost laugh when I think of these stories. Jacob tricks Isaac to get the blessing designated for the first born. Rebekah helps Jacob escape the murderous rage of Esau. Jacob goes to his uncle Laban's and falls in love with Rachel. The seven years spent working for the privilege to marry Rachel pass in a flash. Jacob is secretly wed to Leah. Jacob, upset with the trickery, works another seven years for the chance to marry Rachel. God sees that Rachel is loved but Leah is not and so He blesses Leah's womb. Rachel remains barren. The sisters start to fight, giving their maids to Jacob so they may have children through them. Then Jacob's children fight because he has a favorite. The favorite ends up being taken and sold to passers-by and Jacob mourns him for dead. No worries, though, because Joseph can interpret dreams and is, after a couple missteps, second in command in Egypt. Then he saves the Egyptians and his entire family from starvation. After toying with them for a bit, Joseph forgives his brothers and they all live happily ever after....until a pharaoh decides to impose infanticide on the numerous Israelites.
Jacob definitely wasn't perfect. God blessed him and God punished him. As one reads the story, it is almost impossible to not think of all of the difficulties they are creating for themselves. Two wives? And sisters? Of course there will be discord! Then a battle with childbearing?
The squabbles are almost laughable until you remember how you battle over such inanities as doing the dishes or taking out the trash.
Yes, if the Lord can bring about a Redeemer through the bumbling ways of Christ's fore-bearers, then He can most certainly use you to do His will.
Never fear, we serve a God who can write straight with our crooked lines.
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Friday, October 4, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
"Really?!" Semi-Awkward, Semi-Hilarious, Entirely my Life
Sometimes I have to look at events that occur and simply ask, "Really?!" It doesn't have to be that huge of an event but sometimes the way things work, or don't, is almost comical.
Take today, for example. My Scripture class learned what the phrase "nakedness of his father" actually meant. For the record, I had no intention of revealing this little tid-bit to my classes. I didn't last year, and I had every intention to continue that trend this year. Nevertheless, I decide to tell them when I learned the other teacher had told his classes what it meant. I figured it would prevent any questions about it arising later but now I think it never would have surfaced. The topic was broached and passed over in my third period class. The idea that Ham committed incest with his mother was repulsive, as evidenced by the looks on their faces, but I moved on fairly quickly to the story of the Tower of Babel. Class moved slower for my sixth period class because I had to give a lecture about respect to my students. With a mere ten minutes left of class I was nearing the time to reveal to them what the euphemism actually meant.
Lo and behold, in walks my principal. For a brief moment I considered bypassing the phrase and going on to the Tower of Babel. Was it really that important anyway? What point did it prove? Despite my hesitation, I committed myself to proceeding in the intended manner because the presence of my principal shouldn't alter what I teach. This class is naturally a more reactive class so I wasn't surprised when the murmuring began. You can only tip-toe around the matter for so long before it is necessary to plunge in and just say what it means. He appeared quite interested as I tried to guide my students around this delicate event. I placed my emphasis largely on what Ham was saying by this action. Time soon ran out and the bell rang.
He just couldn't come when I talked about the flood, when we read different Scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments about the flood, when we read about the covenant that God makes with Noah, or when we drew pictures about the different covenants. Today I actually managed to vary the class and incorporate different teaching aspects. Yet all that was seen was a ten minute lecture at the end of class about how Ham had relations with his mother.
I'm not sure if I am more horrified by the events or if I simply find it awkwardly hilarious.
All I could think when the door handle turned and I saw my principal walk in was, "Really? Really!"
On the plus side--perhaps he learned something and I subtly proved that I do have a degree in Theology that has afforded me unique knowledge about Sacred Scripture. Or I am simply ruining my students' opinions of the characters of the Bible.
It could have been worse, right?
Take today, for example. My Scripture class learned what the phrase "nakedness of his father" actually meant. For the record, I had no intention of revealing this little tid-bit to my classes. I didn't last year, and I had every intention to continue that trend this year. Nevertheless, I decide to tell them when I learned the other teacher had told his classes what it meant. I figured it would prevent any questions about it arising later but now I think it never would have surfaced. The topic was broached and passed over in my third period class. The idea that Ham committed incest with his mother was repulsive, as evidenced by the looks on their faces, but I moved on fairly quickly to the story of the Tower of Babel. Class moved slower for my sixth period class because I had to give a lecture about respect to my students. With a mere ten minutes left of class I was nearing the time to reveal to them what the euphemism actually meant.
Lo and behold, in walks my principal. For a brief moment I considered bypassing the phrase and going on to the Tower of Babel. Was it really that important anyway? What point did it prove? Despite my hesitation, I committed myself to proceeding in the intended manner because the presence of my principal shouldn't alter what I teach. This class is naturally a more reactive class so I wasn't surprised when the murmuring began. You can only tip-toe around the matter for so long before it is necessary to plunge in and just say what it means. He appeared quite interested as I tried to guide my students around this delicate event. I placed my emphasis largely on what Ham was saying by this action. Time soon ran out and the bell rang.
He just couldn't come when I talked about the flood, when we read different Scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments about the flood, when we read about the covenant that God makes with Noah, or when we drew pictures about the different covenants. Today I actually managed to vary the class and incorporate different teaching aspects. Yet all that was seen was a ten minute lecture at the end of class about how Ham had relations with his mother.
I'm not sure if I am more horrified by the events or if I simply find it awkwardly hilarious.
All I could think when the door handle turned and I saw my principal walk in was, "Really? Really!"
On the plus side--perhaps he learned something and I subtly proved that I do have a degree in Theology that has afforded me unique knowledge about Sacred Scripture. Or I am simply ruining my students' opinions of the characters of the Bible.
It could have been worse, right?
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The Art of Going Deeper
You think you know something. And then you find out that you really had no clue.
Yesterday my Scripture class was learning about the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Ever since taking an Old Testament Scripture class in college, I have had a deep love and appreciation for the Old Testament. Perhaps my "love" isn't quite as passionate as it should be, but there are parts of the Old Testament that I will return to and soak in the goodness of salvation history. The story of creation and the fall of man is one of those stories.
I was guiding them through Gen. 3 where the serpent began to wheedle his way into the innocent hearts of the first couple. Reviewing the story again I was amazed by the goodness of God and the way He loved us from the beginning. He asks little of us and when we fail to give Him that little, He is quick to promise redemption.
The serpent from his very first words is twisting the beauty and goodness of God and tries to portray Him as a harsh dictator. "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" Very quickly the loving generosity of God is portrayed as miserly withholding. "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." He dares to blatantly contradict God yet he always operates under half-truths. Adam and Eve do not die an immediate physical death. Yet the death they undergo is of a far more detrimental sort--they die spiritually and face separation from God.
The serpent sows seeds of doubt in the hearts of Adam and Eve. "Does God really have your best interests in mind? Is He holding out on you? Can you really trust Him?" They begin to wonder if perhaps everything they never knew they wanted could be found within the fruit of this tree. Perhaps God, all-good, all-giving, all-knowing, perhaps He cannot be fully trusted.
They buy stock in that lie and it turns out to be the worst thing they could have possibly done. The facade crashes around them and the lie becomes apparent. As they realize they are naked and have fallen from grace, I can only imagine that the serpent did not remain silent. At this point he was probably whispering to them how disappointed God was with them, how things could never be the same, and that their sin was irreparable, unforgivable, too big for the mercy of God.
It struck me while I was speaking to them about these doubts that Satan whispered to our first parents, that we hear those same words, too. I told them this. But my realization was that when I was their age, I wouldn't have believed myself. I would have claimed to not listen to Satan or to mistrust God or doubt His intentions. When I was 15-16 years old I would have said I trusted God.
Now I am far closer to God and I am beginning to realize how little I trust Him. I begin to see how I do listen to the voice of the enemy and how I doubt God's intentions, plans, and desires for my life. When I was the age of my students I would have thought that I didn't doubt God because I was close to Him. Now that I am closer to Him, I see that I doubt Him. It is a beautiful mystery that in the spiritual life, the closer we come to the light (and I am by no means very close to holiness or this light) the more we can see our own darkness and imperfections. We see places that need to be purified and cleansed where before we thought we were perfectly healed and whole.
So we delve deeper into the garden of our hearts. We question why we run from the God who made us, loves us, and wills us into existence. We realize that we are running from Him. As we turn to hide and cover ourselves, we ask why we are ashamed and what needs covering. When I taught Totus Tuus I would have little kids tell me that if they were Adam and Eve, they would have listened to God. My response probably wasn't as delicate as it should have been--I told them that they would have done the exact same thing and that Adam and Eve made the choice on behalf of humanity. My innocent little 3rd and 4th grade Totus Tuus children probably didn't understand that. But if I reflect on my day and my life, I can see how nearly every day I have eaten the fruit and then run away from the sound of my Lord seeking after my heart so that he may simply be with me. He comes to seek me out and forgive me and I run away, saying I am unforgivable.
Lord, help us to delve deeper. Grant us the grace to dig beneath the surface and look past what we have assumed to be true. Help me to trust in You with a genuine trust that will enable a wholehearted joyful surrender.
Yesterday my Scripture class was learning about the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Ever since taking an Old Testament Scripture class in college, I have had a deep love and appreciation for the Old Testament. Perhaps my "love" isn't quite as passionate as it should be, but there are parts of the Old Testament that I will return to and soak in the goodness of salvation history. The story of creation and the fall of man is one of those stories.
I was guiding them through Gen. 3 where the serpent began to wheedle his way into the innocent hearts of the first couple. Reviewing the story again I was amazed by the goodness of God and the way He loved us from the beginning. He asks little of us and when we fail to give Him that little, He is quick to promise redemption.
The serpent from his very first words is twisting the beauty and goodness of God and tries to portray Him as a harsh dictator. "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" Very quickly the loving generosity of God is portrayed as miserly withholding. "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." He dares to blatantly contradict God yet he always operates under half-truths. Adam and Eve do not die an immediate physical death. Yet the death they undergo is of a far more detrimental sort--they die spiritually and face separation from God.
The serpent sows seeds of doubt in the hearts of Adam and Eve. "Does God really have your best interests in mind? Is He holding out on you? Can you really trust Him?" They begin to wonder if perhaps everything they never knew they wanted could be found within the fruit of this tree. Perhaps God, all-good, all-giving, all-knowing, perhaps He cannot be fully trusted.
They buy stock in that lie and it turns out to be the worst thing they could have possibly done. The facade crashes around them and the lie becomes apparent. As they realize they are naked and have fallen from grace, I can only imagine that the serpent did not remain silent. At this point he was probably whispering to them how disappointed God was with them, how things could never be the same, and that their sin was irreparable, unforgivable, too big for the mercy of God.
It struck me while I was speaking to them about these doubts that Satan whispered to our first parents, that we hear those same words, too. I told them this. But my realization was that when I was their age, I wouldn't have believed myself. I would have claimed to not listen to Satan or to mistrust God or doubt His intentions. When I was 15-16 years old I would have said I trusted God.
Now I am far closer to God and I am beginning to realize how little I trust Him. I begin to see how I do listen to the voice of the enemy and how I doubt God's intentions, plans, and desires for my life. When I was the age of my students I would have thought that I didn't doubt God because I was close to Him. Now that I am closer to Him, I see that I doubt Him. It is a beautiful mystery that in the spiritual life, the closer we come to the light (and I am by no means very close to holiness or this light) the more we can see our own darkness and imperfections. We see places that need to be purified and cleansed where before we thought we were perfectly healed and whole.
So we delve deeper into the garden of our hearts. We question why we run from the God who made us, loves us, and wills us into existence. We realize that we are running from Him. As we turn to hide and cover ourselves, we ask why we are ashamed and what needs covering. When I taught Totus Tuus I would have little kids tell me that if they were Adam and Eve, they would have listened to God. My response probably wasn't as delicate as it should have been--I told them that they would have done the exact same thing and that Adam and Eve made the choice on behalf of humanity. My innocent little 3rd and 4th grade Totus Tuus children probably didn't understand that. But if I reflect on my day and my life, I can see how nearly every day I have eaten the fruit and then run away from the sound of my Lord seeking after my heart so that he may simply be with me. He comes to seek me out and forgive me and I run away, saying I am unforgivable.
Lord, help us to delve deeper. Grant us the grace to dig beneath the surface and look past what we have assumed to be true. Help me to trust in You with a genuine trust that will enable a wholehearted joyful surrender.
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