perseverance

Day 6: God lives by a different standard

December 22, 2018 — 1 Comment

Genesis 19-21; Psalm 6

The men of Sodom tried to gang rape the angels. Lot offers his virgin daughters instead. Lot’s daughters rape their dad. God destroys a city. Abraham and his wife Sarah are technically siblings. Sarah tells her husband to abandon his son and servant. Abraham abandons his son.

The Old Testament is certainly not trying to make people look good. God destroys a city? That doesn’t make him look that good either, does it? It’s hard reading the Bible. People use the Sodom story to be against homosexuality. No, God is against gangbanging and rape, not homosexuality here.

What have I learned about God? I cannot measure his ways with my human understanding.

What have I learned about humans? We suck often.

What have I learned about me? I’m over this part of the story and just want to get to the good parts.

Day 4: The birth of the prosperity gospel

December 20, 2018 — Leave a comment

Genesis 12-15, Psalm 4

I used to praise Abraham for leaving everything behind and going because God said go, but let’s be real — God promised him BLESSINGS and he also took ALL his possessions with him. He took his comforts and continued forth because of promised additional comforts. Prosperity gospel much? And then how selfish and patriarchal for Abraham to allow his wife to be raped for his own safety? He’s disgusting. How many of us are like him? We disguise our hoarding and desire for riches with faith in God. We sacrifice the wellbeing of those around us for the sake of protecting our riches. This smells like American Christianity. Then lest we forget what else God also promised Abraham: that his descendants will be sojourners and servants in a land not their own for 400 years. So please don’t be alarmed when your riches don’t pan out for you. Don’t get mad that this obstacles and challenges are also part of the plan. Maybe this hard part is the blessing as well. Why does God include these parts and choose people like Abraham? Who knows! He chooses imperfect, selfish people not because of anything they have done but because God will work. So don’t be ALL HONORED if you’re chosen to bring forth God’s plan; it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with God’s bigger plan.

God help me to trust you even when/if I am in those 400 years of slavery, but know that because of Jesus no bondage on earth is truer than the freedom of being Whole and 100% in Christ. Please remove the prosperity gospel from my heart. Help me to trust that all this is part of your plan of redemption.