God's kindness

Here's something interesting and instructive I found this morning in Romans. Remember how we learned that God gave the Ten Commandments for a number of reasons, partly to show his own kindness to us in rescuing us from ourselves? The Ten Commandments surely show us how deeply he loves us, and how fervently he wishes us to love others. They show us his kindness in that he actually cared enough to give us rules to keep us holy and to help us know how to live in imitation of his love. Think of what the world would look like if we took the "nots" out of the commandments and obeyed without them: Thou shalt kill, thou shalt covet, thou shalt bear false witness, etc. Granted, our world often looks like we obey them that way, but that is not the way God gave them. And for good reason. Because he loves us too much to see us destroy ourselves and others. Hear what God said through Hosea, the prophet: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. . . . I led them with cords of kindness [think manna, water from a rock, shoes that didn't wear out for 40 years, and on and on], with bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. (Hosea 11:1, 4) The commandments were given out of this rich and bountiful kindness to us.

So here's what Romans said about this: Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (2:4, italics mine). Gulp.

I don't know about you, but I have been doing an awful lot of presuming, and not a whole lot of repenting. I love God's kindness; I love thinking about it, talking about it, singing about it. Following up on it? Not so much.

God loves us, that much we know. But his goal for us is not to bask in the sunshine of his kindness, but to move forward into his likeness. "I appeal to you therefore, [sisters], by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1,2, italics mine)

I challenge all of us to be led into repentance by his kindness, and dwell there for a good long while.

Thoughts?
Jean

Dust

Am I the only one, or do other women toss and turn at night with regret? Regret over a foolish word, or a wasted hour (or day), or an impulse purchase, or any number of unforgivable sins we humans are so well known for. And how long ought the tossing and turning to last in order for me to feel forgiven, or to forgive myself? How much penance is enough? We really need to resurrect the doctrine of Purgatory . . . we have so much practice residing there, trying desperately to purify ourselves.

And that's where we are wrong. As you tossers and turners ought to know by now, purifying ourselves just doesn't work. As soon as the memory of our misdeed arises, we bounce right back into penance mode, trying to do/say/pray anything good to re-redeem ourselves. No hope.

You know what that says about us? We are full of pride with a capital "p". We do not really want to believe that we are sinners deserving of judgment. We are Americans, after all; we can do this goodness thing on our own. And we can save ourselves too, thank you very much. But we as believers really do know better. It should come as no surprise that none of the above is true. We are wretched and incapable of rescuing ourselves, even if we are the nicest people we know. Psalm 103, my Summer 2010 psalm, reminds me daily that God knows my frame, he remembers that I am dust, even when I forget. And that is why he has compassion on me. (Read it again and again to see what his compassion looks like.) And my pride falls away, because I really do live in the pit of my sinfulness and he redeems me from it (v.4).

James so graciously reminds us of a truth we learned as believers a long time ago: But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. . . . Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6-7a, 10) I like to think of it as "crumbling" before the Lord, falling at his feet, relieving myself of my sinful pride and foolishness, and letting him lift me up. That is the only hope I have.

So tossers and turners, I challenge you to crumble before God before you go to bed at night, and let him show compassion on you. "For he knows your frame, he remembers that you are dust."

Please share what you have learned in the wee hours of the morning, during your own personal purgatories.

Jean

We've been talking about trusting God. For a moment, let's choose to not trust God. Let's believe that we have to figure life out on our own, fix our own problems and, together with our girlfriends, rescue the world. Can you imagine how little sleep we'd get and, more importantly, how many wrinkles? Even with God we often struggle to sleep through all the concerns on our minds.

I spent time recently with a woman who is struggling to solve her husband's health problems, struggling to run the family business without him, struggling to care for an ill relative, all the while worrying that her clean house isn't clean enough. Where is God in all of her struggles? "He is actually not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being'" (Acts 17:27b-28).

I am not minimizing my friend's hardships, rather pointing out that she does not have to bear them solo. Just read Psalm 147 to see the severity and kindness of God. He is so good to the broken-hearted. "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." (vs. 11) She is missing the comfort and help that knowing the Lord and trusting his goodness supplies.

We can read many of the Psalms to see how David poured out his complaints to God and there found rest. Psalm 131 is a lovely example, as are Psalm 62 and 130. ("O Israel [and by extension and salvation, believers!], hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption." Psalm 130:7)

When we choose to go it alone, we choose to deprive ourselves of the only hope that is real and the only comfort that is satisfying and complete. Dwell for a time in the Psalms and there find anew the God who can be trusted.

What Psalms have you found particularly helpful in your daily stresses?