Communal Devotion

I started this whole blog thing earlier this year with no particular goal, just to put thoughts down. This year, our church is asking the whole body to follow the same Bible reading plan. I think this is great. It fosters discipline and builds community, two things that are so seriously lacking in Christianity. So I was thinking, what if we all read the same Scriptures and then blogged about it together? We could exchange ideas regularly, encourage each other, offer suggestions, maybe even expose ourselves a little and receive healing. An army needs to think and act as one. What a great way to build oneness – everyone read the same Manual at the same time and discuss it together. I haven’t talked to anyone else about this, but I am going to. I don’t know if it would be best as a blog, an online journal, or a cyber group; I’ll have to look into that. But I think a lot of good can come out of communal devotion.

So here are my 2 cents for the day. I was reading Genesis 45 as part of the plan and Joseph make a very interesting statement in verse 8: “So then, it was not you who sent me here but God.” Joseph as the 2nd most important in Egypt had just revealed himself to his brothers. He is forgiving them for the wrongs they have done him. In fact, he is not even calling what they did wrong. Of course it was, but he is looking at things from God’s vantage point. God uses and even orchestrates circumstances to get us where He can use us. Slavery and prison was what God did to him, not his evil brothers. God’s divine purposes sometimes rise up out of the muck and mire of our lives. So in the end, isn’t the muck and mire part of his plan as well? God sent us into it, and it is for good (Gen. 50:20). Not necessarily for our good either – I think we must get away from this idea that God is out to fulfill all my wishes and make my life grand and glorious, etc. He meant it for the good of the world in Joseph’s case – even the unbelieving Egyptians. God’s primary concern was not for Joseph to have health and wealth, but to preserve his people the Israelites.

God’s plan, even the crappy parts, is for his glory. Yeah, I do believe it is for our good – to grow us into mature Jesus followers, but his version of “for our good” may not be the same as our version. And ultimately, He wants to use us to build his kingdom.

I Crashed

Have you ever heard folks talking about their “mountain top experiences?” We would love to just skip from top to top, glory to glory, spiritual elation to euphoria to ecstasy. Well, in my life that is just not reality. There are valleys of lukewarm-ness, sin, despair, apathy, atrophy. I’m not so sure life should be a series of ups and downs: This is what we talk about but it shows no real progress. Sometimes I feel like that. Three steps forward, two back, one forward, two back, on and on. Lots of movement but no progress. Shouldn’t the Christian walk look move like:
Ups and downs, but slow steady progress. I have had those good, growth times. And I have crashed. Maybe it is emotional responses and not Godly zeal that takes our hearts. I have come back from thos special spiritual retreats to find the same sins at home waiting at the foot of my bed to slither up on me. That is the real world. We fall, we do better, commit to God again and continue the climb.

Frankly, that sucks. I get tired of working all the time. Tired of working to earn money, tired of working to keep a civil home, tired of working to be the husband, father, man, Christian that eve3ryone expects me to be. No, even worse – tired of being the husband, father, man, Christian God expects me to be – I don’t much care about what anyone else might think.

Being a Christians goes against the grain of society and often against the grain of our humanity. We want to be in control, make our own mistakes, make our own way. From Charles Manson to Donald Trump we want command. I know some folks that just seem to ride the tide and don’t want to make any decisions or stand out in any way. They are already dead – or just really frightened – or lazy. But we all seek control somewhere – even if it is just over our own bodily functions. We all know that sinking feeling inside when we are not in control of something we want to be or should be in control of. Ever loose control of your car? Do you recall that split second of panic when you feel you may be in serious trouble? Some hide their fear of loosing control with a murderous rampage, other with money and clout.

Christianity is not a picnic in the park and it is not for the weak. It takes strength and courage to risk giving up control. Jesus calls us out into the storm not out of the storm. He calls us to trust him with the control of our lives.

Maybe crashing is inherent in this life. But if you are not crashing once in a while, then you just aren’t driving fast enough.