But the more I go to church, the more I read God's word, the more I begin to realize that if I TRULY want to understand mankind, then I need to study God.
I enjoy reading stories that show God's heart and his compassion for me. In Deuteronomy 18:16 it says that the people of Israel BEGGED God to stay away from them. They didn't even want to hear His voice! And what did God say? "Fine, I will do as they requested."
But He can't keep from loving us and communicating His will to us. He sends a prophet that will "proclaim on My behalf".
How amazing is God's love?! That even when I push Him away (which is quite often) and shut his voice out of my life (which is a regular occurrence) HE still pursues ME!
And yet, He doesn't push me to love Him. In Luke 9:42, Jesus has been asked to heal a child with an evil spirit. He told the people that they were "stubborn" and "faithless" and yet, He didn't just walk up and heal the boy. He ASKED the father to have faith and bring the boy to Him. Jesus didn't push the man to believe, but still gave him the opportunity, even though the man had already exhibited qualities of faithlessness. How amazing!
In Psalm 73:1 it says, "Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure." That verse, by itself, would depress me sometimes when my heart wasn't so pure. But then I read the next verse and remember how much I enjoy David's testimony of falling down and getting back up again: "But as for me, I came so close to the edge of the cliff! My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone."
There are some characters in the Bible that I cannot relate to. Joshua is one of these. He seems to have an almost impossible strength of character! But David is so relatable because, like him, I have fallen down the mountain, patched up my cuts and scrapes through the grace of God, and climbed back up.
A question I hear a lot from my friends is "how can GOOD things happen to BAD people?". There are a lot of different ways I answered that question before, but after reading through the rest of Psalm 73 it become much clearer. I am going to write the entire Psalm here in the NLT.
3. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
4. They seem to live such a painless life; their bodies are so healthy and strong.
5. They aren't troubled like other people or plagued with problems like everyone else.
6. They wear pride like a jeweled necklace, and their clothing is woven of cruelty.
7. These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!
8. They scoff and speak only evil; in their pride they seek to crush others.
9. They boast against the very heavens, and their words strut throughout the earth.
10. And so the people are dismayed and confused, drinking in all their words.
11. "Does God realize what is going on?" they ask. "Is the Most High even aware of what is happening?"
12. Look at these arrogant people--enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.
13. Was it for nothing that I kept my heart pure and kept myself from doing wrong?
14. All I get is trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain.
15. If I had really spoken this way, I would have been a traitor to your people
16. So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is!
17. Then one day I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I thought about the destiny of the wicked.
18. Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction.
19. In an instant they are destroyed, swept away by terrors.
20. Their present life is only a dream that is gone when they awake. When you arise, O Lord, you will make them vanish from this life.
21. Then I realized how bitter I had become, how pained I had been by all I had seen.
22. I was so foolish and ignorant--I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23. Yet I still belong to you; you are holding my right hand.
24. You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.
25. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.
26. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.
27. But those who desert Him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.
28. But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things that you do.
1 comment:
Great post! What a great perspective. I suppose every act, paradigm, presupposition should begin with God. If we begin our search with human mindsets there is room for error and disillusionment; however, if our hypothesis is always that God, we will find the truth. Nice post.
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