Jacob is on his way back to Esau. He sends messengers ahead of him to soften the first meeting. The messengers inform Jacob that Esau is coming to meet him, with 400 of his closest friends. So Jacob divides the camp in two and prays. Then he started preparing gifts for Esau. He sent messengers with different herds ahead of him and his family.

He then spent the night before they left. But during the night a man wrestled with Jacob and messed up his hip. It turned out to be God and God blessed him. God changed his name to Israel.

That day, Jacob looked and could see Esau (and his 400 friends) coming. He panicked. He arranged his family, put himself at the lead, and braced for the worst. But Esau hugged him when he got close.

Esau was so excited to see his brother and meet his family. He tried to refuse Jacob’s gift, but Jacob insisted. They caught up and Esau told him to come with him, but Jacobs family was tired from traveling. So Esau went ahead to Shechem, and Jacob stayed in Succoth.

One day one of Jacob’s daughters (Dinah) went in to visit with women in the town, but she was raped by a man. The man (Shechem) fell in loved with her.

So he tried to arrange a marriage with her, but Jacob’s sons discovered what had happened and devised a plan.

“Sure, you can marry her, but you’ll have to be circumcised first. We can’t intermarry with a people who aren’t. You and every man in your city. Then we can become one big family.”

Shechem was the son of the chieftain (Hamor) and he was gaga over Dinah. He convinced his father that this was worth it, and because Israel had so much, the whole city decided this was a good idea. So every man was circumcised.

Jacob’s sons (Simeon and Levi) waited, and once every man had been circumcised, they attacked while everyone was still sore. They slaughtered the entire town; every male there died.

Jacob was furious. “You have made my name stink to high heaven. These people could easily all gang up on us.”

But his sons were also angry. “No one treats our sister like a whore and gets away with it.”

God told Jacob it was time to move. So they went to Bethel. He told them to build an altar there. Jacob instructed his family to get rid of all their idols, and they did. Then God reaffirmed his promise to Jacob (and Abraham) and reiterated Jacob was to now be named Israel.

Rachel died and Jacob marked her grave with a pillar. Shortly after, while Jacob was still living there, Reuben (his son) slept with one of his concubines.

Jacob made it back home to his father, Isaac, just before Isaac died.

Then we receive the genealogy of Esau (AKA Edom). A bunch of the “ites” come from him, but particularly the Edomites.

Joseph was Israel’s favorite son. He even gave him better stuff than he gave the rest.

Joseph started having visions of his family bowing down to him, and told them so. This didn’t sit well with any of them.

One day, Israel sent Joseph out to check on his brothers. They saw him coming, and decided to kill him. Reuben apparently has some semblance of a conscience, and convinces his brother to “just throw him in a well.”

So when he got to them the stole his coat and threw him in the well. But while they were deciding what to do with him, a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites came by. So they sold him. They sold their brother.

Reuben came back to get Joseph out of the well, and he wasn’t there! When he questioned his brothers they all panicked and decided to rub the coat in some animal blood and lie to their dad.

Meanwhile Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt.

Back with Israel, Judah went his own way and married. He had three sons. The first was married to Tamar, but was grossly disobedient to God, and God killed him.

So Judah instructed his second son to provide a son for Tamar (as was the custom), but every time they made an effort to produce a child, he “spilled his semen on the ground because he knew the child wouldn’t be his.” God killed him too.

So Judah told Tamar to live in her father’s house until his third son was old enough to marry.

Tamar didn’t believe Judah, and as time passed she grew impatient. So one day went he went to shear his sheep, she dressed like a prostitute and made sure she was somewhere Judah would pass by.

He did, and was interested. She asked what he would pay, and he offered a goat. She agreed but took his staff and seal until he delivered it. She got pregnant, and went home.

Judah sent his servant back to find the prostitute, but no one knew anything about her. Three months later, news got to Judah that Tamar was pregnant. She was about to be dragged out before the city when she sent word to Judah.

“The father is the man who owns this seal and staff.”

Judah recognized his folly.

Meanwhile, Joesph had risen to power in the house of Potiphar (who was close to Pharaoh). Potiphar gave Joseph power over everything in his house. Everyone loved Joseph, including Potiphar’s wife.

She was so intrigued that she asked Joseph to sleep with her, every day. He refused over and over, and she grew tired of being dodged. So one day, she sent everyone out of the house, and when Joseph came in to do his work, she grabbed him and tried to coerce him. She ripped off his outer clothes, and he ran.

She accused him of rape and he was thrown in prison.

God stayed with Joseph though. He continued to win favor with everyone he met, and was soon in charge of the entire jail.

One day two of Pharaoh’s most trusted men (baker and cup bearer) were thrown into jail. They had terrible dreams, and were disturbed by them. Joseph was able to interpret them, correctly. He simply asked that the cup bearer remember him when he got back.

“Sure, I won’t forget you…”

Two years later, Pharaoh had some dreams no one could interpret and finally, the cup bearer said, “Oh yeah…”

So Joseph was brought in and correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. God told Pharaoh what was going to happen through Joseph, and then Joseph provided a solution. So Pharaoh placed him in charge; second in command only to Pharaoh.

Joseph’s solution worked beautifully and when the foretold famine came, Joseph saved many, many lives.

Israel was hit hard by the famine as well, and when he realized how much trouble his family was in he sent his sons (minus Benjamin, his new favorite) to get grain from the people in Egypt.

Joseph saw his brothers while he was overseeing the grain distribution and accused them of being spies. This way he could question them in plain sight and find out how his family was. He was also testing them. They didn’t recognize him at all.

He kept one of them behind and sent the rest on their way with their grain (and their money, without their knowing). He told them the only way the could get this brother back was to bring the other with them. They knew Israel would never go for it. They returned and told their father what had happened.

As they had guessed Israel refused. Eventually they ran out of food again, and Israel relented. Benjamin was sent with his brothers.

Joseph was so excited to see Benjamin he had them in for dinner. He sat them in birth order and gave Benjamin way more than the others. They were shocked and frightened because they still didn’t recognize him.

He had their bags filled (and money returned) once more, but this time made it look like Benjamin had stolen his cup. Then he sent soldiers after them. They were amazed and distraught when the cup was discovered in Benjamin’s bag.

They all went back and pleaded for the life of their brother. They argued and lamented about how this was their payback for having treated their brother so poorly. They had no idea Joseph could understand them because he had been using an interpreter.

When Joseph couldn’t stand it any longer, he ordered everyone out of the room and let his brothers see who he was.

They embraced and cried.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,” Joseph told his brothers. “Look how many lives have been spared because you sold me into slavery.”

So Israel was brought to live in Egypt with Joseph. And Joseph made sure his entire family (brothers and all) were taken care of.

Before Israel died, he made Joseph promise to bury him in the land of their fathers. Joseph did, and when Israel died, Joseph took him back (with a giant funeral procession) to the cave where Abraham was buried.

Joseph died in Egypt.

Tidbits:

What was the logic behind Esau bringing 400 men with him? Was he just messing with Jacob?

I love the families in the Bible. Jerry Springer would have a field day with them. Jacob loves Joseph more than the other 10 born before him. They hate Joseph…

And what kind of place do you have to be in to have a group of brothers (all of whom are adults) get to the point where selling another brother into slavery is okay?

I wonder if the baker ever regretted asking for an interpretation…

Thoughts:

I can’t stand when people give the same old lesson with a Bible story. I feel like it’s generally much better to try to take a fresh look at something.

I hate using the same old, worn out “moral of the story.”

So, right now, I hate myself.

Joseph is such an unbelievable story of perseverance.

Most scholars would argue that Joseph was in his late teens when his brothers sold him, and that he was at least 30 when he rose to power in Egypt. Thirteen years. Joseph was a prisoner/slave for thirteen years of his life.

For nearly half of his life (when he finally got out of jail) he had been imprisoned in one sense or another.

We are so impatient and whiny. (And when I say we, I really mean me… and we.) We experience down times in life, things don’t go our way, and we get whiny. We starting asking, “Why God? Why me?!?”

Then, if it lasts longer than a year or two (or even more than a month), we feel like we’ve been left behind. God has forsaken us.

Why would He let me suffer this so long?!? I’ve been praying for weeks and weeks and nothing. This is so unfair. Doesn’t He love me? Why would He let this go on for days and days? Can’t He see the immense pain I’m in?

Now, let me pause here. There are plenty of people in my life who are genuinely suffering (under little or no fault of their own), and have for a long period of time. Those are not the people I’m referring to. The people I’m referring to are in the same boat I’m in. Most of the strife they encounter is self-inflicted and short-lived. But we are just too narrow-sighted to understand what long-suffering really is.

We are so impatient. We have little to no perseverance. We think we know what perseverance looks like.

We see a football player like Aaron Rodgers who sat behind Brett Favre for a couple of years, and we make him a saint for it. He was stuck in this terrible situation where no one knew if Favre would retire or not. Oh the pain and drama. What a terrible circumstance!

In all seriousness, the situation was ridiculous and annoying, but Rodgers got paid more money in one year to sit behind someone, than I will ever see in my life.

Yet we look and see him “suffering” and we call it perseverance.

The point is our understanding of suffering (and the length of time related to it) is severely limited.

Joseph was seventeen. Do you remember how long a single year feels when you’re seventeen? Even when you’re happy and enjoying life, a year (as a seventeen year old) is a tremendous amount of time. Think about the first time you thought about being able to drive; I mean really thought about it. You might have been 15. Waiting a year or six months seemed like an eternity.

The Bible isn’t really clear how much time was spent as a slave/hostage of the Ishmaelites, how much time was spent in Potiphar’s house, and how much in jail, but the fact remains that he didn’t meet Pharaoh until he was approximately 30.

I think the only thing I could claim I have suffered with for thirteen years is a mild case of ADD. Or maybe being clumsy. Everything else has been short-lived (and for the most part self-inflicted).

Most of us simply have no concept of perseverance.

We watch TV, or read stories online or in the news, and we tear up at people who endure through amazingly difficult circumstances.

Read Joseph’s story again.

A seventeen year old boy, second youngest of 12, is assaulted by his brothers and thrown into a cistern/well. While they decide whether or not to kill him (probably within earshot), someone says he should be sold to these passing strangers.

So his “brothers” drag him out of the cistern, and hand him over to these strange men for a few coins.

They arrive in Egypt and sell him to someone else. This guy “buys” him. Joseph is a slave. The seventeen year old boy, who days ago was chasing his brothers and the sheep down for his dad, is a bought and paid for slave.

He works his way up through the house of Potiphar, eventually taking over everything he touches, but just when it seemed like things were going right, Potiphar’s wife accuses him of rape.

He spends years in jail. For nothing. A young man, he wins the favor of everyone in the jail, much like in potiphar’s house. He eventually leads as second in command in the jail (still a prisoner for no good reason).

He meets two men (both close to Pharaoh) and helps them in a time of distress. All he asks is that one of them remember him on the outside. He doesn’t. Joseph, in the prime of his life rots for two more years in jail.

But lo and behold, through his perseverance he succeeds.

If this story was on a network or Disney or ESPN, we would all be bawling and beaming with pride.

That is perseverance.

So the next time I’m whining about some suffering that I’ve blown out of proportion (time or severity), someone please remind me about Joseph and tell me to get a little perspective.

God tells Abram to move. So Abram takes his family and moves. Abram settles in Canaan, and God informs him that his descendants will inherit this land. Then he moves to another place. And another. A famine hit, and Abram made his way to Egypt.

When they got close, Abram told his wife to say she was his sister “so they could both be safe.” So Pharaoh took her as a wife. Abram did well, but the Egyptians came down with something… Pharaoh yelled at Abram and kicked them out of the country.

At this point Abram and his nephew have so much stuff (stuff = livestock) that the land can’t handle both in one place. So Abram tells Lot to take his pick of the land.

Some kings came in and conquered the land where Lot had chosen to live and carried off Lot and his family. Abram chased them, defeated them, and recovered Lot and his family and all their belongings.

On thew way back the king of Sodom and Melchizedek greet and bless Abram.

God later comes to Abram in a dream and let’s him know that he is going to give everything to his descendants. To which Abram replies that he has no children.

God makes a covenant with Abram that he will provide him with an heir through whom the entire world will be blessed. This heir will create a new nation.

Sarai, Abram’s wife, decided that she should help God out with His plan, so she gave Abram her maid Hagar to sleep with. Hagar got pregnant and had a boy, Ishmael.

Hagar gets a big head because she has the only heir and treats Sarai terribly. Sarai whines to Abram about it. Abram deflects and defers like any good husband should (please note the sarcasm here), and leaves Hagar in Sarai’s hands.

Sarai returned the abuse, and Hagar ran away. While Hagar was running though, an angel told her to return. So she trusted and returned, despite Sarai’s abuse.

Abram turned 99 and God spoke to him again. “You will be the father of many nations. I will call you Abraham.” Then God told Abraham that circumcision would be the sign of their covenant. Then God told him that Sarai should be Sarah now and that she would get pregnant.

One day God appeared to Abraham, and Abraham had Sarah make some food. The men where Sarah was, and then told Abraham that this time next year she would have a son. Sarah laughed, then denied she did.

God then proceeded to tell Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah were a mess and that he was going to wipe them out because they were corrupting everything around.

Abraham was appalled and basically argued God down to saving the city if there were just ten good men in the city.

The two angels went to Sodom, where Lot lived. Lot convinced them not to sleep in the street.

When night fell the men of the town came and tried to take the angels by force to rape them. Lot protested and offered up his virgin daughters as bait. No dice, they wanted the special guys and began to force their way past Lot.

The angels blinded the men and pushed Lot and his family out of the city. “Run and don’t look back.”

But Lot’s wife couldn’t resist. She turned back and became a pillar of salt.

Lot lived in a nearby city for a short time, but became afraid and moved into the mountains with his daughters. But before long, the daughters worried that they would never find husbands (and thus never have children). So the older devised a plan to get pregnant. Get dad drunk.

And they did. The older took her turn, then the younger. Both ended up pregnant by their father.

Back to Abraham. He moved again, and this time told another king that Sarah was his sister. So that king sent for her. But before he made her his wife, God spoke to him in a dream. That king also yelled at Abraham. Abraham deflects. “She’s my half-sister.” The king allowed Abraham to live there in that land.

Sarah got pregnant. She gave birth to Isaac.

One day Sarah noticed that Ishmael was poking fun at Isaac. And she asked Abraham to do something about it. So Abraham banished Ishmael and Hagar (God told him it would be okay).

Hagar and Ishmael were given enough food and water to last for a while, but when it ran out Hagar left her son under a bush so she didn’t have to watch him die. God heard the boy crying and spoke to Hagar and told her to buck up. And she looked up and there was a well.

Ishmael grew and became strong.

The king came back to Abraham and said, “God is with you. Promise me you won’t come after me.”

Abraham agreed, and then question Abimelech about a well that was stolen from him.

So the two made a covenant. And Abraham’s family thrived there.

One day, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham obliged and took Isaac up the mountain. Isaac asked where the animal for the sacrifice was. Abraham deflected again. But right before he actually took the knife to Isaac, and angel interrupted Abraham. God provided a ram for the sacrifice.

God blessed Abraham once again.

Abraham had more children, and Sarah died. The people there loved Abraham and gave him a place to bury Sarah.

As Abraham got older God continued to bless him. But when he was near death he made his servant promise to get Isaac a wife from Canaan.

Then the servant left to find Isaac a wife. When he got there, he asked God for a sign, and God provided. The girl who came first was beautiful and gracious. So the servant returned and met her family.

After a short stay, Rebekah and the servant returned to Isaac.

Abraham remarried and had more children. But he was always partial to Isaac. Abraham died and was buried next to Sarah. God continued to bless Abraham’s family through Isaac.

Rebekah got pregnant and had twins. Jacob and Esau.

The boys grew up and lived completely different lives. Esau was a hunter, and Jacob was a homebody. Jacob was also an exceptional cook.

One day Esau came in hungry and sold his birthright for some stew. And that was how he lost his birthright.

Another famine came on the land. People became restless and the men of the area began to ask questions about Rebekah because of her striking good looks. Like father, like son: Isaac said, “She is my sister.”

Abimelech (apparently doesn’t learn from past mistakes) was interested in her, but looked out one day and saw Isaac making out with her (or something similar). He questioned Isaac about it, then reprimanded him much in the same way he had his father.

Soon after Isaac was forced to leave the area. But God continued to honor the covenant established with Abraham through Isaac.

When Isaac grew old, he sent out Esau to hunt for him and prepare his favorite meal one last time so he could bless him. But Rebekah overheard and sent Jacob in dressed like Esau. And Jacob stole the blessing from his brother. Esau vowed revenge.

Rebekah and Isaac feared for Jacob’s life and sent him to live with Laban. While on the way he had a dream about a stairway to heaven and was reminded by God of the covenant held by his family.

He proceeded on to Laban’s. He got to a well and asked for a drink, but the men there told him he’d have to wait. The stone took seven men to roll away from the mouth of the well.

Jacob saw Rachel coming to the well, knew she wanted water, and rolled the stone away on his own. Jacob worked seven years for his uncle to marry Rachel, but got Leah instead. So he worked another seven years for Rachel.

Leah wasn’t as loved as Rachel, so God blessed her with children first. Rahel became jealous and gave her maid to Jacob. She bore him children. And so Leah did the same.

Finally God allowed Rachel to get pregnant and Joseph was born.

Laban recognized that God was with Jacob, and tried to convince him to stay. He even tried to trick him again, but God was with Jacob and continued to bless him.

Eventually Jacob grew tired of Laban and left in the night. He took his wives, families, and flocks and fled in the night. He didn’t know that Rachel took her father’s gods though.

Laban took offense that Jacob stole the gods, and chased after him. But Rachel hid them in a bag and sat on the bag. She refused to stand, claiming she was having her period.

Jacob convinced Laban that no one had taken anything and Laban went on his way.

Tidbits:

I’m sure it has a lot to do with the fact that our relationships no longer work in the same manner, but I can’t believe that Abraham called Sarah his sister and she went along with it.

How long was she “living” with Pharaoh?

How on earth did Abraham get away with that twice?!?

Who knew that Abraham was the first bleeding heart?

How much Jerry Springer can one family take? Lot’s daughters lacked some serious moral guidance to sleep with their own dad. I wonder how much of that terrible decision making came from the environment they lived in.

How did Abimelech fall for “she’s my sister” twice? And did Isaac hear that story from his dad? Or was it genetic?

Thoughts:

There are lots of stories in the Bible that are “incomplete” in my eyes. They’re not really incomplete, but I do often want more details. It’s just hard sometimes to believe there isn’t more to some of those stories.

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, there had to be more. God tells Abraham to go sacrifice Isaac, and he just does it? Do-de-do… here I go. Gonna kill my son. I don’t think so.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe these people in the Bible stories really were more special than me. Maybe they possessed some uber-spritual peace of mind and trust in God that is beyond me. But I don’t think so. God makes men out of mice. He uses the weak and foolish to shame the wise and strong.

So I end up at this… there has to be more.

God calls to Abraham and asks him to sacrifice his only son. The son Abraham and Sarah have waited their entire lives for. (In Abraham’s case 100 years.) If Abraham doesn’t speak up then, if he doesn’t argue or question, at least he has second thoughts.

God, are you serious? You made me wait all this time for a son, then you ask me to give him back? Who am I? Job? At least you just took his kids… you’re asking me to give mine back. You want me to kill him myself! I won’t do it! I can’t… You can’t be serious? Is this some kind of weird test? A sick joke?

Obviously at some point, Abraham’s devotion to God won out. But there had to be a part of Abraham that was in doubt. His mind had to be wrecked. He was wrestling internally with the most awkward and difficult decision a man could face.

And that doesn’t even consider how he dealt with Isaac’s questions. We don’t really know how old Isaac was, but he was probably a teenager. Which means he had to have some semblance of what was going on.

“Dad, where’s the lamb? What are we sacrificing?”

How do you answer?

And to make it even worse, if Isaac knows and he’s still going along how much more is Abraham struggling?

My son has to know… he’s not stupid. And he’s still walking with me, still carrying the wood. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

I can’t imagine Abraham getting anywhere close to that mountain without bawling uncontrollably.

He can’t look at his son. He can barely answer. He knows what God wants, and what he “should” do, but how can he possibly kill his own son?

They reach the top of the mountain. And Abraham prepares the altar. Did Isaac try to help? He carried the wood. Did he help his dad lay it out on the altar?

He finishes with the wood, and with tears streaming down his face and the face of his son (who by this point has no doubt as to what is happening, no matter his age), Abraham ties up his own son. He takes his flesh and blood and ties him with rope… to hold him still. Hold. Him. Still. So he can kill him. He ties up his own son to hold him still.

The amount of internal conflict we feel when we have trouble deciding how to punish our kids or let them suffer consequences is nothing. Abraham tied up his own son to prepare him and hold him still.

Then he laid him on the altar.

Another interesting thought. If Isaac is a teenager, and Abraham is past 110, could he lift Isaac? Or did Isaac have to help him? Did he help maneuver his own tied up body onto the altar to help his father prepare to sacrifice him?!?

So here is Abraham, standing over top of his one and only son. Tears are streaming down his face, his hands are trembling, and he has to look his son in the eye and reach for a knife.

He reaches through the blur of tears to the side of Isaac, and grabs the knife. His hands are trembling, and his knees are weak. He mouths, “I’m sorry,” but the words won’t come out.

No matter what Isaac does, nothing can make this easier for either of them. If he lays still, he makes his father proud. He obeys in the face of death, to the point of death! If he squirms and cries out, his father’s heart melts, everything in his body screaming to stop the person who is hurting his son (which is consequently him).

He raises the knife over his head, conflicted yet committed to obeying what he truly hopes is what God wants. His heart is torn in two with what he is about to do.

At the last possible moment, an angel intercedes. God provides a ram.

Now, maybe you believe that Abraham didn’t ask questions. Maybe he blindly obeyed and so did Isaac.

But maybe, just maybe God was using a little foreshadowing here. Maybe he wanted to us to question Abraham so that we could understand later on the depth of what He did for us.

Summary:

Job continues his defense. It’s not you guys I’m complaining to. Just shut up and listen. You can’t possibly think this is what’s supposed to happen to me can you? You keep saying that the wicked get what they deserve, but where can I see it?

Eliphaz takes another turn. Can we give God advice? You have failed, and so you are reaping what you sowed. You didn’t help the people around you, turned them away cold. Can’t we all agree that God is in charge? But you insist on questioning Him. Just come to terms with Him and everything will right itself.

Job replies once again. I’m standing my ground. My complaint is legitimate. This isn’t fair. God would see a straight-living man if I could stand before Him. I have followed Him as closely as I could. I am stuck in the dark. I don’t understand. People get away with murder, and I’m wallowing in the dark here. And God does nothing.

Bildad tries again. God is sovereign. Don’t you get it? How can you stand up before God? Even the stars are imperfect in God’s eyes.

Job responds again. You guys are a big help… Thanks! How did you get so smart? Everyone knows that God is so big. He is beyond what we can imagine.

Zophar says nothing.

Job continues. But He has still denied me justice. I will never agree to these crazy accusations. I won’t deny my integrity. In the end I know the good win out. But where does wisdom come from? We don’t know where to look. It can’t be bought, and it can’t be found by looking. Only God knows where wisdom lies. Wisdom = Fear of the Lord.

I miss the days when God took care of me. People smiled at me and spoke to me. God shined a lamp on my way. But now the pain won’t let up. I’m the punchline in bad jokes. I’m trapped and tortured. I cry for help, but God doesn’t answer. I have tried hard to be integrity-filled. So what should I expect from God? Doesn’t He notice how men live? Does it not matter to Him?

And so Job’s 3 friends had nothing left. Job had filibustered them into silence.

Elihu, who had been standing by watching and saying nothing (younger than the four of them), now lost his temper.

I have sat by and listened as Job blustered like a worthless wind against God. I sat back and listened for the wisdom of the ages to come from three supposedly wise men. But I see now I was wrong. It’s God’s spirit in a man that brings wisdom. So it’s my turn.

And be sure, I won’t be using your trite, tired old arguments. So please honor me now Job by listening to me.

You are wrong. God is far greater than us, and always gives an answer. Even when we don’t recognize it, He supplies an answer. Keep listening, I’m not done.

God can’t do anything wrong. He is the one who makes it all work. God always tells it like it is.

Job, you can’t keep talking to God this way. You are rebelling.

People always cry out to God when things are bad, but where were they when things were good? There’s nothing behind their prayers but panic.

Elihu continues. God is all powerful, but he doesn’t bully the innocent. He cares for the righteous. And he uses pain to show people where they’ve gone wrong. But if we learn from our suffering, we are delivered from it.

God is bigger and further reaching than you can imagine. He commands the weather. How could you even dream of addressing him?

God confronts Job. A violent storm rises up, and God speaks to Job from the eye of it.

On your feet! Whoever it is that is questioning me without understanding, let him stand and face me. How long have you been around? Do you know how all this works? You certainly seem to think you do.

Do you understand where light comes from? Have you seen where snow is made? You can’t possibly think it all just happens…

Can you educate animals in how they are to behave? Can you direct the weather?

Then God moved from general to specific. Now what do you have to say for yourself? Haul me into court, will you?

Job answers. I have made a grave error. I’m sorry. I will shut up now.

God questions Job again. Am I wrong? You’re innocent and I’m guilty?!? Can you lay waste to all the wrong on earth? I’ll gladly step aside and let you take care of that.

Go! Tell the Behemoth what to do. Nothing on earth can move Him. Or catch Leviathan with a fishing rod. I dare you.

Job answers one last time. I’m sorry. I babbled on without knowledge. No one can upset what you’ve set in motion. I made assumptions about you before, but now I have seen. Please forgive me.

God turns to the “friends.” You three are idiots! You haven’t spoken truth about me. So I’ll tell you what, have Job offer a sacrifice on your behalf and I will accept it from him. He is my friend; I will listen to Him.

And God restored Job with double everything he had before. He lived to see four generations of his children.

Tibits:

Job was a stubborn guy. I think most of us would have genuinely begun to question ourselves at some point (before God).

God never said anything to Elihu. Does that mean he was correct (or at least close)?

Thoughts:

There are a lot of lessons we can learn from Job. We can learn about genuine prayer. We can learn about comforting friends. We can learn about enduring hardship with integrity.

But I think the thing that struck me the most, perhaps what bothers me the most, is that Job was never told why.

We always try to find ways to justify our pain.

I went through this at that point in my life so I could learn…

I went through that so I could be a help to other people when they suffered through it too.

I went through that because I disobeyed.

And while those things may be true (or may not), we are always focused on why. We need a why.

I don’t know if it’s based in our distaste for authority or just a need to feel like we’re important enough to demand a reason.

I always need to know why. Why would someone act that way? What could possibly motivate someone to say…? I want to understand people’s reasons for things (psychologically and otherwise), but really I’m just nosy and need to feel important/powerful. If there’s a rule I want to know the reason behind it. That way I can decide whether or not the rule is worth following.

Job was never given a reason. God addressed Job, but he didn’t really answer why.

Job is never told that God was showing him off. Job never gets any inkling that Satan was challenging God to a duel and he was the gun.

Part of me finds this disgustingly unfair.

Job went through this because he was such a good guy. He was so filled with integrity that his life was allowed to be torn apart.

The story of Job is one I struggle with often. How could God allow this to happen?

But if God had explained the whole situation to Job, would it have made a difference? Would Job have understood?

Probably not.

I use this analogy a lot, but I can see God looking at Job (or any of us) like a small child throwing a tantrum.

It’s not fair! I don’t deserve this!

Squealing and stomping and kicking because we’re angry about something that is over our heads.

And that’s the real rub: I don’t have an answer. I don’t understand.

While there are morals to the story (call them application points if you want), there isn’t really a neat resolution like we would expect. We’re kind of left hanging (like Job).

God is sovereign. God is so much larger and more encompassing than we could possibly imagine. His purposes and ideas are so far above anything we could understand.

The story just ends. Happily ever after… as long as you don’t want to know why.

Job is a really good guy. Blameless and upright, and all that jazz.

He was also very wealthy. Had more than anyone else. Far more. People everywhere looked up to Job. He had seven sons and three daughters. They took turns hosting parties in their homes. And each time a party ended, Job would sacrifice on behalf of his kids, just in case one of them had sinned.

Meanwhile, in Heaven: God had called the angels to report, and Satan was among them. He gloats about the condition of the earth, and God asks if he has noticed Job and how good he is. Satan thinks Job is good because of the blessing, and without it he wouldn’t be. He challenges God to a duel.

God accepts, so long as Satan doesn’t touch Job.

One day while Job’s kids are having a party, a messenger runs into Job’s house and tells him that his hundreds of donkeys and oxen were in the field working when Sabeans attacked and stole them all, and he was the only servant that escaped. While servant one was still finishing, another rushes in and informs Job lightning struck his hundreds of sheep and shepherds in the fields and he was the only one who escaped. While servant two is still finishing, a third enters to inform Job Chaldeans stole the camels (all of them, lots) and killed all the drivers and he was the only one to escape. While servant three is finishing, another enters and informs Job that a strong wind came and knocked down the house where his children were partying. All are dead, and only he escaped.

Rough day for Job. (Rough 20 minutes for Job…)

Job tore his clothes, shaved his head (both typical mourning practices for the day) and falls to his face. Then he worships God.

Not once through this did he sin against God.

Meanwhile in Heaven: God calls the angels to report again. Satan is there again.

God asks where Satan has been, and again Satan speaks of the world. God asks if Satan noticed their “mutual friend”, Job. Satan assures God that if Job’s health were to leave as well that he would curse God.

God obliges.

Job breaks out with sores and boils. Gross. They get so bad he is scraping his skin with broken pottery. Grosser. Even his wife tells him to curse God and move on. But Job calls her a fool.

Enter Job’s three “friends.”

The four men sit for seven days without saying a word.

And Job speaks.

He laments the day he was born (quite eloquently, might I add). He wishes for death in more beautiful words than most sing of love.

Then the first “friend” speaks.

Eliphaz from Teman imparts some “wisdom” for Job. He is going to comfort, because Job has done that so often for other. It is popular theology for the day. In essence, bad things happen to sinners… so ‘fess up Job. Confess to God and repent and all will be well again. Lots of comfort.

Job replies:

Show me where I have gone wrong. Something is amiss here. I have not sinned against God. There must be some sort of mix up here. Just end it for me. Kill me and get it over with. This isn’t fair.

Then the second “friend” speaks.

Bildad from Shuhah offers more “comfort.” How can you say this isn’t fair?!? God doesn’t mess up. It’s obvious that your children have sinned and God punished them. If you are truly innocent then call out to God. He will fix it if you are. Listen to our wisdom, we’re old. You must be faking this goodness, because there’s no way God rejects good people.

Job replies:

Call out to God? What else have I been doing? How else can I bring my case before Him? And even if I did, how could I stand against Him? God is so far beyond our understanding that I would have nothing to say. I feel like He’s crushing me, even though I’ve done nothing wrong. I wish there was someone who would stand before God on my behalf.

God, you know I’m not guilty. Please step in and tell me what’s happening here. I’m drowning. I wish I was never born.

Then the third friend speaks.

Zophar from Namaath doesn’t pretend like his friends to offer comfort.

Should we listen to this drivel any longer? No. Listen up Job. You can’t talk to God like that. You need to repent. Then things will get fixed. God knows all and is bigger than all of us.

Job replies again:

Do you think I’m stupid? I know all that. It’s easy for you three to stand and point like I’ve done something wrong here. You’re not in pain. It’s easy from your position to pretend things are that simple. Your wisdom is simply pithy sayings everyone already knows. Real wisdom comes from God.

God tears down what He wishes and builds up what He wishes. I just want to know why this is happening to me.

Don’t pretend you know more than I do. You don’t. Just shut your mouths and let me talk to God. Get out of the way, you’re not helping me, let alone Him. He doesn’t need you to defend Him.

But if you insist, then defend Him. Show me where I’ve gone wrong. Tell me what I’ve done.

Ease up on me God! This sucks. Life is too much for me. Just take it.

Eliphaz (friend 1) again:

You are trivializing our religion. Your sin has taught you to ask questions. You incriminate yourself with your doubt.

We have age on our sides, you should listen to us. Are God’s promises not enough for you?

Evil men always have trouble. They never get ahead.

Job again:

This is getting ridiculous. What is your problem? I thought you were here to help? If the roles were reversed I would never treat you like this.

God, this truly is wearing me out. Please step in. You are beating me up, and I have no recourse. There must be someone who can stand between us.

My friends have betrayed me. I know you can see how useless they are God.

Bildad (friend 2) again:

Are you going to keep talking to us like we’re stupid?!?

Look at reality. Evil men have trouble. Men without God end up in trouble.

Job again:

You all just keep punching away. Is this fun for you? I’m calling for help, being beaten mercilessly, and instead of helping, my friends join the one who is pummeling me.

Zophar (friend 3) again:

This is hurting my ears! You are speaking lies about God and us.

Don’t you know?!? Evil men have good for but a short time, then their evil catches up to them. Evil tastes good for a while, but ends up turning your stomach in the end.

Evil men exploit the poor. Greed drives them. Then God catches up to them and gives them what for.

Tidbits:

Job has more power, wealth, and influence than anyone “in the East.”

The Bible described him as “blameless and upright.” Is this in the eyes of men? or God?

Why do people always feel the need to “help” by offering trite/pithy things to say? Why can’t they shut up and just be?

Semi-spoiler alert: Remember Job’s words at the end… He says some things in anger/frustration that are (at least) borderline accusatory about God.

Thoughts:

I think we (the church in general) overlook an important part of this story.

We’re more than ready to mock Job’s friends for their poor friendship and bad theology. The idea that God only brings bad upon the bad and good upon the good was a prevalent part of many religions, and these men were no different. And we jump all over Job’s friends about it. That’s silly. We know better. How could anyone really believe that? Right?!?

But are we paying attention?!? Job believes it as well. At least, he did until recently. The turmoil he’s suffering is rocking his theological world. What once seemed simple and right is no longer either.

So he begins to question everything he knows. He’s miserable with grief, but I think at least part of his misery is due to the fact that everything he thought he knew had come undone.

So here’s what I think we miss:

Job’s friends weren’t indignant because they really felt like he was assaulting God. They were indignant because he was assaulting their long held system of beliefs.

They spend more time defending their own right to wisdom and religion than they do God. They are more concerned with Job could have possibly done than they are with Job’s emotional condition or the reality of the situation.

If this system of beliefs I have purported my entire life isn’t correct or doesn’t apply, then I have wasted my time.

They’re afraid that Job’s questions are going to wreck their lives too.

The reality of Job’s life was in direct contradiction to everything these four men knew. And they all had to know it.

Job knew that he was “blameless and upright.” He knew that he was a good man. I’m sure his friends did too. I have no doubt there were people around Job cowering in fear.

If Job, perfect, amazing, great Job can suffer like this, then what shape am I in?!?

I’m sure that’s a large part of the reason none of his family or other friends would hang around. There is a gaping hole in their theology… unless they can find something in Job’s life that fixes it. He had to have sinned…

If they can point out something wrong with Him, they will feel better about themselves. Then, they can go back to life, back to the status quo.

I used to read this and think, “Why can’t these losers be better friends? What is their problem? They must be jealous of Job or something…”

But now I’m not so sure. Maybe they were just struggling to hold on to something they had invested so much of their lives in.

…

How often do I do this? How often do I ignore reality to hold on to my “set of beliefs?” It could be something at work, as a parent, husband, or friend. Or it could be theological.

We fight. Because rather than embrace the new reality we are beginning to see and understand, we’d rather hang on to something that we held dear (or not so dear) for a long, long time.

I am doing a chronological reading again, so the books of the Bible won’t always come in order.

Immediately below is a key, a legend, if you will, of the way I’ll lay this out each time.

Summary: This is just what it says: an exceptionally brusque summary.

Tidbits: This is interesting or odd things I notice or have noticed before (both processed and unprocessed, with more of the latter than the former).

Thoughts: This will contain actual formed and processed thoughts.

…

Aside: The last time I read through the Bible, I did it in the New American Standard Version. This time I am reading through in The Message. I will probably have times where I quote from it (and perhaps other translations/paraphrases). If you don’t like The Message, that’s fine, but I won’t be debating the merits of which version to use in this forum. We can have that conversation another time.

…

Here goes nothing.

Summary: Genesis 1-11

Genesis covers a lot of ground very quickly. So, deep breath, here goes…

We start in the beginning. God made the universe (which includes time as we understand it). He was there before it. God made the earth, sun, and stars. He separated the waters and made land. He made things to inhabit the land. Then He made the crowning jewel of His creation: Man (used in the overarching general mode meaning humans, not in the sexual/gender-specific mode). He made man in His image. But He only made one, incomplete on purpose. Then once the man was aware of his need for companionship, God made woman (well done, God).

Adam and Eve were placed in charge of the creation. Take care of it. Eat, enjoy, but don’t touch this one tree and it’s fruit. You can have anything, except that. You eat, you die.

Along comes Satan disguised as a serpent. He convinces Eve that God is tricking them, and she tries the one thing she wasn’t supposed to. Then takes it to Adam. OOPS! Now they see they’re naked.

They cover up and hide when they hear God coming. God knows what they did. He asks them anyway. Everyone blames someone else, and they are banished from the garden, condemned to live mortal lives.

They have two boys, Cain (the older) works the ground, and Abel (the younger) keeps livestock. Cain gives to God from his crops, but Abel gives God the best from his flocks. (Note the difference there is not in what was given, but the quality/priority.)

God is more pleased with Abel. Cain is jealous. Cain kills Abel. God banishes Cain. (Do we see a pattern here?)

Then a bit of genealogy to let us know who the descendants of Cain are, as well Adam and Eve have another son, Seth.

Then more genealogy = from Seth’s descendants comes Noah.

At this point Noah was basically the only good guy in the world. God lets him know and tells him to build a giant boat. Noah starts building the boat. Takes him about 100 years. The flood comes. Noah and his sons and all four wives (Noah’s and his sons’) get on the boat with pairs of every kind of animal.

Everything on earth (outside the boat) dies.

After almost a year Noah is able to get out of the boat. Noah and his family start the world over. God makes a covenant with Noah to never destroy the whole world by flood again (rainbow).

We get some more genealogy to let us know where all the “ites” come from, then the massive amount of people (from said genealogies) start to build a tower together to show their own amazingness (yes, that is a word… it is now anyway). God is frustrated with their independence and self-absorption, and confuses them. He creates multiple languages for them, and forces them to spread out.

One more genealogy for good measure, and we’re to Abram (eventual Abraham).

Tidbits:

Did Eve not immediately recognize her nakedness when she ate from that tree? Why did she not see until Adam did?

Adam and Eve must have had more kids. Cain gets married. Not sure how all that works, but they all lived such a long time who knows…? Cain could have married a sister or cousin.

Enoch (and I quote) “walked with God. And then one day he was simply gone.” He didn’t die. God just took him.

Can you imagine living as long as these people did? Methuselah = 969 years. Imagine all the things he saw. Imagine the wisdom he could have had. We think people who live to be 96 or 97 (and are still coherent) possess something special.

Thoughts:

We all love to play the blame game. It’s much more fun to deflect than take what’s coming to us.

It’s not surprising (though I wish it were) that Adam and Eve both immediately tried to blame someone else for their poor decision-making. We all possess this innate “self-preservation mode.”

No one is immune.

Even my perfect children are, at times (though few and very far between), prone to blame the dog or each other for their bad decisions. I know it’s tough to believe, but they do. Me too. Sorry to burst your bubble.

We all do. Something is coming down the pike, something failed at work, something didn’t work out as planned, or maybe we just did something we knew not to, and our first instinct to to try to find a way out.

And the easiest way out? Pass the buck.

“Well, if upper management would just get me the tools I need…”

“If the deadline was reasonable…”

“If he/she hadn’t said that…”

“If there weren’t so many rules…”

And the funniest part? We will blame anyone and anything. Person, animal, object, place, weather… It doesn’t matter as long as it played some minuscule part.

From “the dog ate my homework” to “traffic was terrible,” we love to shift the blame.

The cool part (this is always the cool part) is that God has given us the ability to overcome ourselves (fully when we trust in Him, but even in part on our own). We can turn off, or at least override “self-preservation mode.”

While sinning or choosing wrongly is fairly unavoidable, we can begin to rectify the wrong choice with the right one.

Take the blame.

Take responsibility.

Own up.

Confess.

We don’t like that last word. The other phrases sound at best heroic and at least responsible.

But confess? Ew… Now I sound like a criminal.

But I am. Breaking the law makes me a law breaker. That’s what it is, and confession is the only way we can begin the journey back to where we need to be.

We never hear much more about Adam after that moment of nakedness in the garden. We know he and Eve were banished from the garden, and his work of the soil would be difficult where it wasn’t before. We know they had more kids (at least one), but that’s it.

Genesis 5:5

Adam lived a total of 930 years. And he died.

That’s it?!? And he died?!?

I always wonder, when the Bible leaves us up in the air about someone, if that really was it. Was there no more to Adam’s story? Did he leave the relationship with God fractured at that point and just move on?

“Sheesh. This was all Eve’s fault, or at least God’s for putting her here. And I got punished?!? Lame.”

Could that have been the summation of Adam’s life? The effective end of his real relationship with God?

Or did he, at some point, confess to the mistake? Did he own up and begin to journey back to the best relationship with God he could muster?

If you were someone God wrote about, how would your story finish? Would it be like Adam’s?

I hope my story ends like Enoch. Although it was brief, the Bible leaves little doubt about what kind of man Enoch was.

Genesis 5:24

Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him. (MSG)

Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (NASB)

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. (NIV)

I sincerely hope my story can end as well. Maybe it won’t end exactly the same way, but I hope that there is more written about me than how many years I lived.

“I did that.”

Riley (5) and Lincoln (3), have both reached that stage where they want to do a lot of things (if not everything) on their own. Getting dressed and undressed, getting a drink, playing a game… All things (among others) they want to be able to do without assistance.

And while they can do those things independently, all those things get done much more efficiently (and done much better) if my wife or I do them.

So it’s a constant struggle.

“I want to get dressed.”

“No, let me help you.”

“I want to do it!”

And so the (not so) merry-go-round of frustration begins…

“Okay, you do it… Hurry please, we need to go… Lincoln! Put on your underwear and pull up your pants!… Come on buddy, we do this all the time… Put your socks on. Hurry up!… Wrong foot…”

And the (not so) merry-go-round usually stops with Lincoln crying on the floor in his underwear (or at least half dressed). So I pick him up off the floor and hurriedly put on the rest of whatever isn’t on so we can hustle out the door to whatever comes next.

I have to believe this is how God feels about us a lot.

“Here, let me help you…”

“No! I want to do it!”

It looks so much like the (not so) merry-go-round. And so because I am impatient, I expect God to be impatient also and grow weary of my silly little game. I often envision Him growing more and more frustrated with me, until he finally just leaves me sitting there on the floor in my underwear crying.

Sorry Lincoln, someday you’ll think it’s embarrassing that I wrote about you sitting on the floor crying in your underwear. Or maybe you’ll find it more embarrassing that I wrote about me sitting in my underwear. Either way, sorry.

And while there are striking similarities, there is a marked difference. God is far more patient a father than I. And I thank Him for that.

I don’t doubt at all that God grows frustrated with us on occasion (more than “on occasion” with me I’d imagine), but I think that frustration is always overshadowed by His love for us.

But I’m not sure that I always show that to my kids.

There is nothing they could do to separate them from my love, but I’m not sure that is always apparent.

However, the other day, I was made keenly aware of the difference between how I normally act and how God feels toward us.

I came home from work at the usual time, frustrated because of traffic and the long drive (and the idiot who was entering our subdivision who couldn’t figure out how to use the stupid keypad to get in the gate, and wouldn’t move out of the way so I could let us both in). I walked in to the house with a baby crying, and Riley and Lincoln fighting and getting in trouble.

But then something remarkable happened. Riley had in her hands a picture of Santa (at right) that she had colored at school.

This is the first time she has colored inside the lines. Ever.

Completely unassisted she colored this picture of Santa, and stayed inside the lines.

And all my frustration melted away into the background. It didn’t matter anymore.

“Who colored this picture of Santa? It’s so pretty!”

“Me!”

“You did this? You colored this picture? You stayed inside the lines?”

“I did it!”

“Wow! Good job Riley. I am so proud of you!”

…

So this is how God looks at me…

I have no doubt that Tara or I could have colored that picture and done a much nicer job, and more quickly. But I think we all know that’s not really the point.

The point is that Riley did the best she could, with everything she had for us. And I welled up with pride and love to the point where nothing else mattered.

God doesn’t leave me on the floor crying when he should be frustrated with me because his perspective is way better than mine. He never loses sight of the pride and love he has for us.

And so, while He could easily outmatch us in anything He chose, He lets us present our gifts to Him because it was God who gave us the desire to use our talents and abilities. He gave us the desire to do things on our own, to create and stick our name on something. He gave us the desire to contribute something.

He could make perfect music that would far surpass anything we have ever dreamed, but He likes when I sing Him a song in my flawed, imperfect voice.

He could produce the most beautiful art the world has ever seen, but he likes when I make something lame and insignificant in Photoshop.

Anything I can do, He can do better… but He doesn’t need to or want to because He takes pride in and loves me.

I couldn’t stop grinning. I love them. I love everything about them.

Their smiles are absolutely intoxicating. Their giggles provide such endless joy. I’m not sure I can adequately describe to anyone (let alone someone who has no children yet) what wells up inside me when I look at them.

Watching them learn and grow and become “big people” is my greatest source of joy.

Sure, there are those moments when they irk me (generally my fault, rarely theirs). There are times when they disobey, or cause undue pain to each other. There are times when I really just want them to stop crying.

But it always comes back to this ridiculous, overwhelming sense of joy, spurred on by love.

Oh, now I get it…

This is how God feels about me.

There is absolutely nothing my children could do to remove my love from them. They can’t stop it. They can’t cut it off.

Riley, Lincoln, Cole, Jude: If you ever doubt my love for you, that is my fault not yours. Know that there is nothing that exists in this world that could make me stop loving you guys. (I know you can’t read yet, but someday you will…)

And this is how God feels about me. Only way better, and way more. (Which frankly I’m not certain how possible that is, but I know it is.)

I never really had a grasp on that until recently. I didn’t know how God could continue to love someone like me. I consistently do things contrary to His will. I know how I should treat other people, I know what I should do, but I ignore.

I happen upon/find ways to hurt him over and over (both consciously and subconsciously). I know what is right, but I still choose the wrong so often.

But he still loves, still pursues, and still reaches out his hand to help me up again.

And now I know why.

You didn’t know I had super powers did you?

I used to be able to get hurt or simply participate in strenuous activity and sleep off soreness and pain. Soreness and hurt seldom hung around to keep me company. We were not close.

Not so much anymore. Now, we’re the best of friends. They drop in for almost any reason at all, including sleeping in a different manner than normal.

This is completely and utterly lame.

And playing sports… don’t even get me started. There are so many things on the soccer field and basketball court that I can see happening, and I know where I’m supposed to be, but my body is not interested. A play I should have been a step faster for, a ball missed. Man, I’m tired (see: hands on knees, panting heavily).

And it’s those moments, where I feel like this mortal coil (reference: Hamlet, Act III, Scene I, line 66, for those of you who don’t know) is nothing but a hindrance.

I don’t even want to imagine 30 years from now. Or 40. Or 50.

I’m sure some of you reading this are laughing at me right now. I’m not old, I know. But I am more keenly aware of the state my body is in now than I have ever been.

As I was driving home last week from playing soccer, I started to think about how limited I am by my body.

And then it struck me.

I watch my little girl struggle with that everyday.

If you didn’t know, my daughter Riley has Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder that manifests itself through developmental delays (to oversimplify terribly… if you would like more go to the link above). The delays can be physical, mental, and/or social.

So here I am, whining because I’m not in as good a shape as I used to be (my own fault), and Riley is held prisoner in her own body. (I know that might be a little over dramatic, but bear with me.)

I was helping Riley do her homework this morning. She’s supposed to draw straight lines, perhaps two inches in length from a point above to one below. And she gets a straight one about 25-30% of the time. You guide her hand, help her go slowly, and she does the next one. Sometimes its pretty straight. Sometimes its not. I could see the frustration growing on her face. He hand just won’t do what she wants it to do. (Or what her well-meaning, but over zealous father wants it to.) The motor skills required just take so much more effort to master.

But mentally she is lacking nothing. Or perhaps its socially. Maybe its both.

I’ve watched my five year old daughter work a room better than most lifetime con-men could. She is able to quickly assess a room or group of people and pick out the “suckers.” She finds the person she knows she can get the most out of and goes to work. She manipulates people (not in a negative way). She quickly learns who is susceptible and who isn’t.

This is not an indictment of people who love on Riley. I am one. It’s just a simple statement of fact that she knows how to manipulate people.

I know that she is perceptive.

You can’t read people the way she does (as quickly as she does) without being perceptive.

Which is why I wonder how aware she is of her prison: that clumsy little body that more often than not gets in her way. It hurts to think about it. The challenges she will face are far more than I have ever encountered. She will have to work harder than most to do less.

And yet, Riley is such a happy kid. All the time. She grins and the room glows. She has never met a stranger. Everyone gets a hug (if she’s not being coy for her own personal amusement).

Were I in the same situation, I feel like I would spend a great deal more time angry and frustrated than she is. I highly doubt I would possess the joy she does.

And that is the beauty and paradox of how God works through our weakness to display strength. He takes something that we view as a hindrance and uses it to show us what truly matters… and what does not.

I jump into a reading plan (or just try to read willy nilly*) and for a few days or weeks,  I do very well. But then I get “busy.”

*For those of you who don’t know, the phrase “willy nilly” simply means without a plan or intended direction.

So when I got my iPhone, I found this Bible app from LifeChurch.tv, and decided I would try another reading plan.

111 days later, I read through the Bible chronologically with YouVersion. Finished. The whole thing.

Chronologically was a fun way to go too. Everything in the order it happened (as far as the people who made the plan can tell).

YouVersion is really well laid out. It has a good search function, a myriad of reading plans, and a plethora of translations.

El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of [translations]?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A *plethora*.
Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

You can go online (to the actual website youversion.com) and change the length of a plan. You can also set accountability features (or even use your own email to remind you to read when you get behind).

So if you have an iPhone, a Blackberry, or some other smart phone, go download that app. It is well worth the $0.00 I spent on it. Yeah, that’s right, it’s free.

So I guess I’m telling you to go get it. It helps in the never ending quest to increase your knowledge of “The Good Book” and of the One who wrote it.

But I’m also simply telling you to read your Bible more.

I should. And I did.

And now I will again.

Action… reaction. Consequences. Justice.

It all makes sense. You do the crime; you do the time.

That changes a little (read: a lot) when it’s us, though. We don’t want justice then. We want grace. But that’s a story for another day.

Every other time, we want justice. And who do we generally blame (or at least shout to) when justice isn’t served?

Usually it’s God.

How could He let this happen? Why would God let those people get away with (insert crime here)?

We scream to him for justice because we believe that God is all about it. Judgment. Punish the bad guys.

And He is.

But sometimes I think we form the impression that He enjoys punishment.

Surely He must. God has to enjoy punishing people. Why else would He do it?

How could God not enjoy punishment? I mean, who doesn’t love making their own children cry?

What parent doesn’t experience joy when spanking a child who won’t listen?

Who doesn’t smile with glee when their kids suffer the consequences of tough life lessons?

If you haven’t caught the sarcasm yet, this would be a good time to note its use.

I came across an interesting verse today in my daily reading. Check out Ezekiel 18:23:

“Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God , “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?”

God spends much of the Old Testament warning Israel of the impending consequences and punishment of their repetitive choice to “follow their own path.” The people consistently chose to do things that were contrary to God’s commands.

And while to us that may seem arrogant to us (to require a people to do whatever He says), He was trying to protect them and the relationship that He and they had.

But each time punishment came, whether in the form of an enemy nation came in and decimated Israel, or carried them off into exile, or Israel was plagued with… well, a plague, God would always re-initiate the relationship. He would extend his hand again to His people.

God never enjoyed punishing people. He didn’t cackle with glee when the flood wiped out humanity. He didn’t grin with vengeance when He wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah. He wasn’t pleased with sending in nation after nation to tear down the cities of the people He chose. Those were all His creation. He loved them. He was saddened and frustrated and hurt.

He didn’t enjoy punishing people. And neither should we.

And there’s the rub. That’s the hard part.

I think (at least for me I know it to be true) at times we take a little delight in the death of the wicked. We grin because we believe that justice has been served. They “got what was coming to them,” and we feel a little better about ourselves.

When in reality, we should be disappointed and perhaps saddened at the loss of opportunity for redemption.

This is an entirely human trait. We like revenge (which we tend to label as justice). We look at justice many times as something we get to do, instead of something that must be done. Justice is an important, integral part of society and who God is, but (for us) it should be a burden, not a privilege.

And if you need further proof of this, read Jonah sometime. You’ve probably heard the story before.

God tells a dude to go preach to the bad guys. Dude runs the other way. God chases. Dude ends up in the belly of a fish. Dude survives and goes to preach to bad guys.

But that’s usually where we leave the story. We leave out the part that Jonah preached in Nineveh and the “bad guys” changed their lives. God moved in their hearts and healed the city.

And then Jonah posted how many people were saved next week in the bulletin right? Surely he was pleased…

Nope. Jonah was hacked. He wanted God to kill ‘em all. He was angry that God saved the city of Nineveh and then claimed that was why he originally didn’t want to come. “I knew you were just going to save them anyway.”

God then spends chapter 4 of Jonah teaching him a lesson about the value of life and compassion.

So the next time you catch yourself (or catch me) screaming for that “evil” person to pay the ultimate price, remember this verse:

“Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God , “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?”

Maybe that terrible person is allowed to continue on for a chance at redemption. Maybe, just maybe, God knows what the heck He’s doing.

Do not be eager in your heart to be angry,
For anger resides in the bosom of fools.

I find it humorous that we as a society/culture/whatever look for reasons to get angry. Blame who you want, but we do. We see or hear a quote or blurb (which is usually taken out of context), and we run with it. Into a wall. Over and over. We take offense, and then we shout it from the rooftops.

Whether it’s because it’s from a political figure we don’t like/agree with, or someone who just generally irks us, we jump at the chance to get angry about the dumbest crap.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things in life to get angry about, but most of the time we chose stupid junk to get angry about, not the things that matter.

If you need an example, just have a discussion about religion or politics with people who aren’t like minded. Most of us can’t handle a conversation/friendly debate without righteous indignation at the other person’s “ridiculous” point of view.

We think to ourselves, “How could anyone possibly believe that drivel? They can’t have thought this through (not reasonably anyway) and still arrived at that point of view. How can they be so dense? Don’t they know how wrong they are?”

But we never focus on the things that are agreeable. We get so caught up in the few things we disagree on, we neglect all the things we have in common. Because we’d much rather have a point of contention than common ground to stand on. A point of contention affords us the ability to not have to work on the relationship. Common ground means we have to try.

Please understand, I’m as guilty as anyone else (if not more so). I’ll be listening to or reading something and hear something I don’t agree with (something that “offends” me or my sensibilities), and that’s it. From that point on, I listen or read with a tainted point of view (if I finish at all). And I miss all the beneficial information that is being offered because I’m still focused on what I didn’t like.

This isn’t an all the time thing. I’m usually pretty good about distancing myself from my emotions (in this case anyway) and trying to take it all in, before I decide that the person I’m listening to or reading is actually Satan incarnate.

And I’m obviously not the only one.

As Christians we (the church at large) are notorious for this sort of behavior. We hear one thing that we think offends us or the church (it’s so much easier to justify anger if we can use the security blanket of claiming it’s an attack on the church), and immediately our ability to listen (and possibly learn something) is severely impaired. We have been offended and therefore must respond defensively (or offensively).

Let me pause with you for a moment and address something. This is not a call to passivity. I am not advocating anyone should abdicate their responsibility to stand up for what is right.

However, a wise old lady (actually a lot of people have… maybe I should pay attention) once told me, “You have two ears and one mouth…“

Stop formulating your argument.

Stop interrupting.

Start listening (even when you disagree vehemently), and maybe, just maybe, you will find a common ground on which to stand (which, by the way, makes it much easier to be persuasive). Maybe you will find some value in what that evil person (please note the effusive sarcasm) is mindlessly spouting (also dripping with sarcasm). Maybe you will learn something new.

I guess I’m just glad when I read that verse (the one that started this post) that God has given us a world where even the most abominable things can (maybe, possibly) have redeeming value.

Never stop listening. Never stop learning.

I feel the need to apologize. This apology is for myself, but also on behalf of the church (the whole church) to the people we have ostracized and misled.

We have taught people (unintentionally perhaps) that the church is about exclusion. And we have made a grave error in doing so.

The church is not about exclusion. It can’t be. Jesus’ entire ministry was one of inclusion. His ministry was for everyone. His love was for everyone. His death was for everyone, and his resurrection was for everyone.

Read John 4 sometime. Get a good couple of commentaries, ask someone who knows. That’s just one story about Jesus including people who “didn’t belong” with other people who “did.”

And we, the church (myself included), at times (lots of them), have done a horrid job of relaying that message. In fact, we have relayed quite the opposite. We have convinced a large number of people that Jesus doesn’t love them unless they adhere to a specific, ever-changing (depending on when and where you live… and who you talk to) set of rules.

And who needs more conditional love?

I get plenty of that from all kinds of people.

So this is my apology.

I’m sorry.

I have blown it completely. I have misled you, and I apologize.

Jesus’ love is not conditional.

Jesus loves you and died so that you could have the opportunity to choose to be with Him or not.

He loves you if you love Him back and if you don’t. He loves you if you apologize and if you don’t.

He loves you if you like Insane Clown Posse, and He loves you if you like Kenny G. He loves you if you’re on America’s Most Wanted, and He loves you if you’re Mother Teresa. (I know some of you think this is corny, but you’re going to have to cope…)

He loves you when you kill kittens, and He loves you when you serve others. He even loves Steelers fans. (Ew.)

Jesus’ love is completely, unequivocally, absolutely unconditional.

And I forgot to make sure that was clear. I’m sorry.