Behind the Scenes

Reading 13: Genesis 41

I sit eating beef stew for dinner, with no thought or concern as to where my next meal will come from. People in Gaza tonight, have no such luxury. Famine and distress are as real today as they were then.

Pharaoh was warned in a dream, interpreted by Joseph, and acted accordingly. It's another lesson for me on how when God speaks into my life, what is my response? Am I slow to act? Do I rationalize non-action? Or do I comply with the desires of my God?

Part that stuck out to me today was that Joseph was shaved and given new clothes (vs. 14) before coming before Pharoah, and then presented with new clothes and new jewelry. It's important to prepare for the role we will play in God's plan...

The Catastrophe Sent By God

Reading 8: Genesis 19

Lot hesitated twice. Twice. And he still ended up in the mountains. He lost a wife, 2 son-in-laws, and who knows how many friends and colleagues.

What a tough moment. Once again, God has become so fed up with a portion of His creation that His choice is to do away with it. To utterly destroy it.

I don't find Lot (or his family) to be the most positive of role models. Lot offered his daughters to be violated, his wife clearly disobeyed the angels, Lot's son in laws don't take the threat seriously, Lot argued with the angels (who argues with angels???), and his daughters decided to empregnate themselves through trickery. Interesting bunch, aren't they?

Yet the poinangt part, for me, is the fact that God kept to His promise. He promised Abraham that He would not destroy Lot, that Lot would be spared this catastrophe of raining sulfur. (Unfortunately, Lot created his own personal catastrophe, even as the angels personally escorted his family to safety)

How often do I hesitate to heed God's protecting command? How often to I shamefully beg for a different decision? Really, am I any better than Lot and his family? Sadly, usually not. But the magnificent part is that God is always the same!

The Rainbow

Reading 6: Genesis 8

From the time Noah stepped foot into the ark, to the time the muddy earth was finally drying out an entire year had passed. An entire year! Cooped up with animals, children, wives...all kinds of things that can make long trips miserable. :)

One rabbi suggests that the rainbow holds special significance regarding God at war with man. That the rainbow reminds us that God would no longer destroy man in effort to "clean up the act" and reminds us of a bow and arrow pointed away from earth. It's an interesting comment; click here to read the rabbi's comments on the dove and rainbow.

The verse that stood out to me today is this:

The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man

One person's sacrifice can make a difference. Noah offered what he had, and God "smelled the pleasing aroma"...quite a difference from His reaction to Cain. Perhaps this is the attitude offerings require: willingness, thankfulness, self-directed not law-directed.

I pray that my offering (time, talent, etc) is a pleasing aroma.

Under Water

Reading 5: Genesis 7

"Build an arky, arky!"

The flood waters came and everything was gone. The "slate" was wiped clean, and we started over.

It's interesting that we don't necessarily associate getting rid of something completely as a "mature" way of dealing with a problem. Yet here, God got rid of everything as the best way to deal with the issue that was happening: man's increasing wickedness.

In ministry, we all too often fight tooth and nail to hold onto something that really should be let go. Perhaps there are moments when we need to let it go, wipe the slate clean, and start fresh? That kind of decision is not made lightly (God didn't just jump to the flood, He tried other things see Genesis 6.) It's not an endorsement to cancel whatever it is you're doing that's not working. It's not an excuse to give up on trying to work things out and make amends. But there must come a point when you realize that it's not working, it's time to start over.

Man & Woman, Male & Female, He created them.

Reading 2: Genesis 2

It is in the second chapter that we get more details on exactly what happened in regards to the creation of man and woman. We get specifics in the story line.

So, we're brought into the whole of creation and we're the only ones given a task to accomplish. The birds were never sat down (at least it's not recorded) and told what to do. The shrubs didn't get a growth plan and goals and objectives. But man was endowed with a task. God created us in His image, and that included accomplishing something beyond 'surviving'.

So what's our job??

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Our job is to take care of the creation. All of the creation, and encouraging the creation to meet its potential by caring for it.

We're also the only part of creation that received an explict rule. (seemingly arbitrary (specifics about its reason to come, I'm sure))

you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die

Honestly, why the rule? Why even put us near the tree if we can't eat it? .... a question for all time... I mean I know the theological responses, but deep in my heart I can still ask "Why?"

Anyways, I kept coming back to verse 6:

but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground

Just thinking in line with my whole "perceive the stream" topic...it's just like God to keep reminding me that I'm on track. The stream came up whether man was there or not. God's will was accomplished, with or without our help and yet He still decided to create these finicky, problematic, troublesome creatures...and still called them GOOD.

In my own ministry, it's a reminder that God doesn't necessarily need me to get His will accomplished, but He's chosen me to be a part of it. It also forces me to recognize that God's been at work in the various situations around me LOOOOONG before I ever showed up, and well after I move on.

God is the stream, not me.

The Story Begins

Reading 1: Genesis 1

It's always a struggle to not just skim through relatively familiar passages of Scripture. As I start this 'adventure' of letting God turn my life around, I want to make sure that I don't miss anything. I have to be paying attention if I'm going to see God do His 'brand new thing' (Isaiah 43: 16 - 19).

So, Genesis 1. The story of creation, the story of the beginning. As I continue to read through the rest of the 179 days remaining, why does God start His story this way?

Besides the fact that every story must have a beginning, I think that God is setting up a model of how He works.

Note how God's Spirit was always there. He was hovering above the surface. God is always here. He's always present. We don't have to find Him, we have to pay attention and SEE Him.

Note the order, rather than chaos that He creates. He takes nothing and makes something. I can attest in my own life that He took nothing and created something, something with purpose and direction only given by Him. He brought me out of the chaos.

He also called everything GOOD. In God's eyes, all of His creation is good. ALL of His creation was formed by His hands and His work. And He said it was good.

I also noticed that God typically only worked on one project a 'day'. That could be a major lesson for me. Too often I try to take on lots of various things, and end up frustrated at the end of the day when I've not finished any of them.

As I continue to read, I wonder how these themes will pop up again???