When God states the obvious, it's probably not

 

 Repetitions and seemingly obvious statements in the Bible probably aren’t as simple as we tend to think they are. We may be tempted to skim or skip through passages that sound redundant or overly familiar to us.

But maybe that’s the point.

 If God took the time to repeat something, it’s not because He slipped in His speech, as we are wont to do. And He’s not nagging.

 You know how we might relate the same stories or jokes or other statements multiple times, perhaps because we forgot we’d already told them? Or we thought someone might not have listened to us the first seven or eight times? Or we didn’t like how a listener wasn’t really listening or answered us in an unexpected and unsatisfying way?

 

 I’m thinking that’s not what it means when God repeats things – especially in His Holy Word. Or when He restates something that seems already evident to us. When He does this, it’s clearly for emphasis. He wants to make sure we really grasp the point.

Here’s an example.

 In Joshua 13, the chapter opens this way:

 “Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years’” (v. 1, ESV).

 It’s not like Joshua didn’t already know his age. He was old. He was advanced in years. (And aren’t those literally the same thing?) But God pointed it out to him.

God wasn't springing Joshua’s age on him as a surprise. I suspect God was recognizing and acknowledging Joshua’s situation. (The Lord went on to outline Joshua’s instructions, which were becoming more urgent as he grew older.)

 Looking at our own lives, how often does God point out our most obvious conditions, crises, or concerns? Consider these possibilities:

 Now Jake was battling post-traumatic stress disorder. The Lord said to him, “You are battling post-traumatic stress disorder.”

 Now Katy was struggling with chronic migraines. The Lord said to her, “You are struggling with chronic migraines.”

 Now Grandpappy was enduring his third round of chemotherapy. The Lord said to him, “You are enduring your third round of chemotherapy.”

 Now Lucy and Sy were sorrowing over another miscarriage. The Lord said to them, “You are sorrowing over another miscarriage.”

 Now Leslie was job-hunting after receiving another pink slip. The Lord said to her, “You are job-hunting after receiving another pink slip.”

 Our all-seeing and all-knowing God is not caught off-guard by any of these difficult scenarios. Not ever. He’s waiting for us to call on Him.

We get that – at least much of the time we do. But how do we feel when He tells us about our troubles, which we painfully and obviously already know about?

 It’s like God is affirming our challenges.

 

“I see you,” He says.

 He understands. He knows our anxieties. He sees our struggles. He feels our pain. And He steps into our lives to meet us exactly where we are.

 And then, once He has our attention, He leads us forward, be it through or over or past whatever we’re facing.

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)

 Related items:

• Dark and difficult emotions don’t negate our faith.
• Does God say no to earnest prayers?
• Maybe worry isn’t all bad.
• Ouch! Why do we grieve grievers with tacky questions?
• Peace in the storm can only be God’s.

 

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Don’t miss the Heart of a Ready Writer page on Facebook. You are invited to visit my Amazon author page as well.

 

Image/s: Man with a Knapsack, Winslow Homer, 1873, public domain

When well-meaning advice does more damage than good

Advice from trusted friends is often a great gift – except when it isn’t.

 Wading through the book of Job this week, I am so struck by contrasts. This book begins as a narrative of the onset and progression of this faithful follower of God’s life-changing losses and agonies. But it soon becomes a volleying of speeches offered by Job’s friends, with his own responses interspersed.

 As Job and his seemingly well-intentioned friends discuss his remarkable suffering, it may be challenging for the reader to pick out the good advice from the bad. Although each of his friends offers some nuggets of truth and wisdom, they also go out of bounds. 

 

 OK, these guys do spend an impressive amount of time listening to Job first, as he airs his woes. But then they launch into their own diatribes:

• They attempt to analyze Job’s situation, even though they lack insight into it.
• They add insult to injury by complaining about other problems besides Job’s (as if he needs additional worries or concerns at this point).
• They blame Job for his troubles.
• They offer pat answers, claiming the faithful will come out alright.
• They question Job’s faith.
• They critique their friend Job, making themselves sound better by comparison.
• They seem to explain away some of his troubles, as if he might be exaggerating his misery.
• They call Job to repent, which is always a good idea before God, but they do not know that Job’s suffering did not result from sin on his part.
• Basically Job’s friends offer him counsel (right or wrong) when what he really needed was comfort.

 (I’m cringing because I realize that I have been both the giver and the recipient of similar well-meaning, but off-target commentaries over the years.)

 In all of this, despite his own agony and his having to endure all of their hot air, Job remains faithful to God. He dares to ask difficult and honest questions, knowing that God is able to take that. And as believers, we know that God will answer Job (and will answer us) in His time.

Spoiler alert: This proves to be true before the end of the book, as God restores Job.

 God is not afraid or threatened by our difficult and honest questions. And there are times when He is the only wise counsel, even when others earnestly are trying to help. Maybe that’s why the Apostle John instructed believers thusly:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God.” (1 John 4:1a, NKJV)

 We are also limited. We need His wisdom — oh, how we need it — especially in our most difficult times.

 One of my most frequently prayed promises of the Scriptures wasn’t around in Job’s time. But it’s here for us:

 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." (James 1:5, NIV)

 Bring it, Lord. How we need Your wisdom.

 

Related items:

• Arms up or up in arms?
• Betrayed again … but Jesus knows the feeling
• Dark and difficult emotions don’t negate our faith
• Does mother-grief last forever?
• Fighting for heir time
• My heart hurts because you matter
• Snotty snubs and hot coals

 

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Don’t miss the Heart of a Ready Writer page on Facebook. You are invited to visit my Amazon author page as well.

Image/s: Mr. Mel's Neighbors by Evan Harrington, 1860, public domain

Shot in the street - Can't we all stop and mourn?

Another kid was shot dead this week in one of our cities. By law enforcement. He was 20. How heartbreaking it is to hear of a young life cut short.

I’m not bashing cops. And this particular story is evolving. But however it plays out, it’s calamitous.

The police have officially called it an accidental weapon discharge. It began with a routine traffic stop over an expired registration. There may have been an outstanding warrant as well. The situation devolved. The police officer supposedly intended to zap the unarmed driver with a Taser, but used a gun instead. The kid’s mom was on the phone (from home) at the time and heard commotion before the call dropped. He died from a bullet wound in the chest. The whole thing was recorded on the officer’s body camera.

The question remains about whether this particular police officer made a grave mistake or acted intentionally. Maybe the truth will come out with incontrovertible proof. Maybe not.

Even if that happens, the loss of the young life still looms. And oh, so many more.

 

The grieving mom’s life will never be the same, echoing so many others.

How could it ever be?  Losing a child has to be the most unbearable sort of pain life can bring.

And this mother’s sudden unspeakable loss was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner.  How many times will this grieving mom replay that dropped phone call in her own head?

“He lit up the room in our classroom workshops,” Project Success posted on Facebook. “We are heartbroken and thinking of his family, friends, and community.” The youth organization works with local schools to provide curriculum, workshops, arts experiences, mentoring, and more.

The devastating incident has made headlines around the world, primarily for its tragedy, but also for its timing. This happened in the same city where another white police officer is currently standing trial for the death of another man of color under his uniformed knee. Four local counties declared a state of emergency, and the state Governor declared a curfew, as protestors filled the streets.

And the spiral continues, bringing more unrest and violence and loss and grief.

  

Can we all stop and mourn awhile?

Tragedies like these bring to mind the oft-quoted prayer of Robert Pierce (1914-1978), the American Baptist pastor and missionary, who founded World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse. Pierce prayed thusly:

“Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”

Surely God weeps when sons and daughters lose their lives. The Creator cries when violence storms our streets. He mourns when the unarmed are gunned down, the meek are murdered, and hatred prevails.

When will we stop spilling blood in our streets? When will we learn to love those don’t look like us? Or those who don’t vote like us? Or those who don’t (Dare I say it?) talk or pray or sing or do church like us?

This isn’t to throw fuel on the fire, but to call us to compassion.

 

How long will racial rages remain?

Someday, God will bring His Kingdom to pass. And all His people will belong there … together. There’s so much about that promise that is unimaginably miraculous, but perhaps one of the most unfathomable concepts is that He will bring unity and harmony to our diversity.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9, ESV)

 

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Bring it!

How about us?  This kid’s disturbing death needs to drive us to prayer, if nothing else does.

Oh, Lord. May we long for the day when people will “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4, NIV).

Let’s ask God to break our hearts with what breaks His, just as Pierce prayed. Today, my heart breaks (and many other hearts break) for the family of this young man, unnecessarily slain.

May the Lord build in each of us a longing for the day He brings beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning (see Isaiah 61:3), and an end to racial divides.

In the meantime, can we care more? Can we learn more? Can we do more? Can we stop writing off others’ pleas to matter, justifying our own callousness and inaction by claiming we all do?

Isn’t it time for us to practice the unity of God’s coming Kingdom? In what tangible ways can we better participate in Christ-like love for one another?

 

Here’s an aside, if we’re serious about compassion.

That cop’s life is also forever changed, whether she acted inattentively or intentionally.

Mother of two adult sons, she’s been a police officer for more than a quarter of a century. At the time of this agonizing event, she was training a new officer on the job. Respected by her peers, she’s served as police union president. She has resigned from the police force and has been charged with second-degree manslaughter for this awful incident. Whatever happens legally or professionally, and whether the shooting was accidental or not, we have to suppose her heart will always carry the burden of this horrible event that occurred at her own hands.

Oh, Lord. Bring healing to us all.

 

Image/s: Public domain photo

 

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Don’t miss the Heart of a Ready Writer page on Facebook. You are invited to visit my Amazon author page as well.