Magic and Faithlessness and God's Pain

This morning as I was reading in 2 Kings and noticed that many of the kings were identified along with the names of their mothers... I found that interesting since women are rarely mentioned in the Bible... and it seems through this period of history there was an Ashera pole that was erected in Samaria (which seems to be the seat of power for the northern kingdom of Israel). I wonder if the influence of that practice affected the records of the kings' names in relationship to their mothers since Asherah was a goddess that was worshipped there at that time...?

I also noticed that after Elisha's death, there is a story of some people burying a man in haste because of the raiders in the land. They threw the body of the man in Elisha's tomb and when his body touched the bones of Elisha he "came to life and stood up on his feet"... I don't know what to make of this... Elisha was a powerful man of God and even after his death his bones could work miracles???

Throughout the reading today (2 Kings 13-15) and the passages prior, I noticed that none of the kings ever fully repented and turned back to God and destroyed the Ashera pole(s) and the golden calves where the people were worshipping... and it seems that the northern and southern kingdoms are fighting each other... and they are getting whittled away by foreign kings and kingdoms.... But God still honors His promises and doesn't fully wipe out the line of David... He also seems to take note of their suffering and provides them with relief (at least some relief) despite their faithlessness to Him....

How painful to see Him continue to be gracious to these people, I can't imagine the pain it caused/causes Him as people continue to choose other gods instead of Him... how do I do that? How do I choose myself/my comfort over Him? I long to offer Him my whole heart... not just what is easy to give....

"Random" Thoughts on Humility

Elijah is still calling down fire from heaven... consuming two companies of fifty men with their captains... the third captain fell on his knees before Elijah and begged that he respect his life and the life of his men... humility appears in the story again... and God spoke and told Elijah to go with them... their lives were spared.

My husband was reading Proverbs 11 this morning. He tells me that his father used to read Proverbs every day... since there are 31 chapters today is the day for the 11th... pretty good idea. In verse 2 it says: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

I watched a video this morning on the TED website of Stacey Kramer speaking of a gift she had received... her humility is moving.

How do I move into and through my day with this perspective? How do I embrace humility? How do I see my suffering as a gift from God and embrace whatever comes my way?

My Response to God Matters in the Story Line

Today I am noticing God's response to an evil man's humility... God had determined that Ahab was going to die and that He would wipe out his entire line... as He had done to two other kings that had been evil before him. It was surprising though, that when Ahab had heard this he humbled himself and went around "meekly":

1 Kings 21:27 "When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly."

Ahab had had a man killed because he wanted his land for a garden... he had already disobeyed God and let a man live whom God wanted put to death and then took a life for his own selfish ends....

God was still determined to carry out what He had decreed, but He delayed the worst of it until after Ahab's death... He would wait to send the full judgement on his son, who was next in line to be king, simply because Ahab had humbled himself.

It appears that though evil mars the glory of God, He will, in His timing, still accomplish His purposes... and He somehow allows our response to Him to affect the story He is trying to tell... when Ahab behaves in an evil way he isn't representing the heart of God... so God must act... but when he humbles himself God shows His mercy... reveals His heart in the story....

It amazes me that we can have an interaction with God despite how evil we are....

My head is full of questions... What does God want us to see about Himself here? How does humility/recognizing God as God and me in my proper perspective affect my day to day? Wouldn't repentance be better than simply being humbled?

It seems that in God's story, He allows room for me and my evil fallen ways... and my response to God DOES matter... how will I respond to what He sends to me today?

It's God's Story

1 Kings 20:28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”

It appears that sometimes God does things because He wants to correct what people think of Him (show who He really is)... not necessarily who the key players are or what they have done... He gives Ahab the victory, not because of who Ahab is (he is married to Jezebel who had set up worship of other gods in Israel and had "all" the prophets of God slaughtered... except for the two 50s hidden in caves and Elijah hiding in the ravine and with that widow....) but because of who God is... and what people believed about Him.

God is telling His story and He moves accordingly... it isn't about us... it's far greater than us and our understanding.

Earlier in 1 Kings 16:15 it says "In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days." Why so short a reign?

If you read the surrounding story... God had decided to carry out judgement on the house of Baasha. He apparently chose Zimri to enact that... Here is some of the backstory: "12 So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu—." He appeared to be doing what God wanted... but he ended up setting fire to the palace with himself still in it.

So he died and the passage tells us it is because of the sins that he had committed... God is using sinful people to do what He needs for the story to move forward.

I have trouble getting my simple mind around the complexity of these stories... I've lived with far simpler thinking "do what's right and God blesses" but these stories challenge my limited perspective... there is a greater backstory... I wonder how often the "key players" are unaware... like Job when Satan approaches God... the whole conversation that affects his life is "offstage" and the key player isn't in on it... At least I think of Job as the key player... and perhaps it's my limited understanding that is the problem... how often does God move to tell His story and I get in the way? How often do I hinder the story by not submitting to what I perceive as "unjust" treatment... I deserve better or "they are in the wrong"... instead of listening for the Spirit and remaining vulnerable.

How do I love in the midst of the story when it isn't about me or what I want?

The Nature of Evil

On Sunday we were discussing a quote from Jon Piper about the nature of evil. Here is an excerpt:

God did not just overcome evil at the cross. He made evil serve the overcoming of evil. He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil. Evil is anything and everything opposed to the fullest display of the glory of Christ. That's the meaning of evil.

I am to always reveal the glory of Christ... in its fullness... anything that I do that promotes myself interferes with His glory... anything and everything....

Just what does that mean?

How am I to live with an awareness of His Spirit of Love flowing through me... or might I be unaware at times, but still fighting the good fight of faith?

What does it mean to "fight the good fight of the faith" for me today?

The Gentle Whisper of Invisible Truth

Today I reread the story of Elijah running from Jezebel. I noticed that God showed up and fed him in order to strengthen him on his way... but when he gets to that place (40 miles away) God asks him "What are you doing here?" I find it interesting that Elijah begins to whine about his situation and God reveals something to him about Who He really is... despite the fact that he has run away in fear and is pretty self-absorbed... He shows him wind and earthquakes and fire... but He is in the gentle whisper.

God helps him by feeding him and then revealing Himself to Elijah... and what was it that God wanted him to know about Him?

He was in the gentle whisper.... He asks again "What are you doing here Elijah?" Elijah says his whiny thing again and God just tells him to go back to work... and also tells him that there are more people than he knows about who are for the Lord... seven thousand in fact.

I wonder in my fear, where it is that I run to? How my perspective (I am the ONLY one I whine) affects what I perceive as true and therefore my actions... I wonder what it means for me today to live by faith in that invisible Truth... that Gentle Whisper?

Of Miracles in Hearts and Gentle Whispers

Today I was reading the story of the flash and fire that Elijah called down from heaven in his dual against the prophets of Baal. One little line in that passage that I hadn't noticed before caught my attention today.

Elijah is ready to call down the fire from heaven to consume his thrice drenched offering and he says in his prayer: Answer me, LORD, answer me, so that these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.

Which is the miracle here? It seems to me a far greater thing that God intervenes to change hearts than that there is a fancy display of power... it is amazing that He decides to act and illustrate His story this way... in the next chapter He reveals Himself to Elijah... not in the wind or earthquake or fire, but in the gentle whisper....

Help me, O Lord, to attend to that gentle whisper today.... Continue to turn my heart to the pathways that lead to Your Kingdom here on earth.