slavery

Day 21: How to read without discarding God

January 6, 2019 — Leave a comment

Exodus 13-15; Psalm 21

I don’t like this God of war. I’m not sure how to receive all that he does here. Unless, one I discard this story, which Bible people say you can’t. You can’t just pick and choose stories in the Bible because in essence you are creating the God that fits YOU. And how much can we really trust ourselves? There should be a level of discomfort when we make ourselves better, more in line with wholeness, goodness, compassion, kindness, all the above that God is from the beginning. So this God of war and God who hardens the Egyptians are really messing with me. I either have to take this story or throw away the God. Can I interpret this story in light of God’s character? A God of war that fits into a God of compassion… Can this tale be a metaphor? Does it remind us how prisons and past lifestyles grip us and don’t want to let us go? Does it tell us to keep signs of how God has freed us? What have we been freed from? What’s a sign of that, that we can bring up time and time again so we don’t lose sight of that redemptive God? Does it also show us how quickly we forget all that God has done for us? How quickly we see the power of God and go back to complaining about the little things and doubting?

Seeing this more as a metaphor of God’s power and love instead of taking it so literally help me make sense of it. It still doesn’t sit 100% well with me. Is that because the wars and revenge of my current world really suck? I’m part of the oppressive nation. In my current world, we are the Egyptians.

Day 19: Freedom & Slavery

January 4, 2019 — Leave a comment

Exodus 7-9; Psalm 19

The Pharaoh put his people’s life in danger because of his damn ego. Was it that important to him to keep an enslaved people that hated him? He didn’t believe the signs of Moses and Aaron because he saw the same signs done by his people. So even when his own team of slytherin couldn’t reproduce the same plagues, he remained stubborn?

In what areas of our heart have we chosen our own ego and proud over the goodness of things and people in our responsibility? In what areas do we question the God of the gospels by pointing to results from other sources? How have we lessened the power of God by crowding our space with lesser powers that do in fact bring about miracles? How can we tell which is of God and which is not?

PS Aaron and Moses are in the 80s. It’s never too late to do the thing your life was made for.

I desire for the power of the Scriptures that Psalm 19 exclaims. I want to see the the Grace, compassion, righteousness (not self-righteousness) exude from me as I choose God over the ways of this world that are only for my happiness. Help me to decipher areas in my heart that are selfish and may the Word of God continue to lead, guide, and shape me into a defiant and radical woman of freedom.

The contrast of slavery in Egypt and the freedom from the Scripture. Where am I trapped and don’t know it? Where am I freer than I allow myself? Where am I hardened and need to be softened? Where am I not owning the choices and paths that are good?

Day 17: Forget me not

January 2, 2019 — 1 Comment

Exodus 1-3; Psalm 17

God heard Israel’s cry for help from slavery and he remembered his covenant. I mean I don’t think God forgot; as if he had turned away, was listening to some other kind of music and Israel’s crying suddenly jolted back to his original plan. God doesn’t forget and his timing is perfect. So in light of his unchanging qualities, how can we see this? This was the ripe time to take his next action. The people were so aware of their oppressed reality. It’s hard to get people to change when they don’t know they need the change. You can’t pull people out when they don’t realize they’re stuck in a bad way. God remembered. He didn’t forget. He simply brought it back to the forefront so that he could share exactly what Moses needed to hear. God doesn’t forget. He always has the best plan, the original plan at hand. It’s that he knows the best time to strike. He did here with the right person: someone who had a blemished past, who needed refuge, who straddles two cultures, not really belonging in either fully. He was the unexpected bridge who could be an instrument because clearly the good and miracles out of him were not from him. They are from above. How can I get to a state of humble desperation? What unexpected circles have I had access to and can now have positive influence?

A little bit of the Psalm. I love the last bit about how David will behold God and in return he will be excited about his likeness. You know how couples or owners and dogs end up looking alike? The thing we hold, admire, keep close the most is the thing we become and when we look in the mirror hopefully we’re excited. When you behold a kind, compassionate, powerful God, hopefully you become more like that. God may I behold you and be more and more excited by the person I see in the mirror.