Monday, July 21, 2008

07-21-08

Well, my cadre of faithful blog readers, you have seen first-hand how far my resolve takes me. I resolved to blog more consistently and so far I have only managed to be consistently inconsistent. This might also help explain my inability to lose weight. Apparently dieting for the better part of the day, or even the better part of an entire week is not sufficient commitment for double digit weight loss. (Long, heavy sigh.)
In my defense, I don't want to write to just be pecking away with no point, and I don't want this blog to turn into a rant, though trust me, there is plenty to rant about. In fact, if I'm not careful, it would be much easier to rant than edify and that would be counterproductive on so many levels.
So....with a few exceptions, I do my best to confine the rants to my prayer closet. With the door tightly closed. And locked. That way God can't get out and no one else can get in. It's better for everybody that way.
That's one thing I really like about God. You can rant, you can even rant at Him occasionally, and He doesn't pout or withdraw or get His feelings hurt or threaten to smite you. He doesn't even roll His eyes. He lets us duke it out. He listens to everything we have to say. He lets us tell Him everything that frustrates and confuses us. Even when we accuse Him of appearing to be absent or slow or distant or uncaring or a procrastinator.
Job did it. And Jacob. And Moses. And David. And Elijah. And Jonah. Heck, the list of who didn't give God a piece of their mind in their brief appearances in Scripture would be shorter than the one of those who did.
In fact, to take a bit of a left turn here, I'm going to put together a talk about all the people in the Bible that begged God to just go ahead and kill them!
Moses, Elijah, Job and Jonah spring immediately to mind. Every one of those guys had some fairly heated conversations with God about what the heck He was doing and why He was doing it. They were essentially saying, "I don't get it; I don't like it; and You've got some serious 'splainin'' to do, Big Guy."
But perhaps the best part, the most essential element, is that God always listens and, if we are also listening and not just ranting or pouting, He eventually answers. And His answers are perfect and brilliant and wise and provide the perspective shift that allows us to reframe our thinking, calm down and put our trust firmly back where it belongs.
When David, having acknowledged the incomprehensibility of God, asks with head-shaking gratitude and awe, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?" the answer is loud and clear. "You are loved with an everlasting love." Valued. Treasured. Adored.
"Why?" we ask. "How, when I have violated all Your commands in a thousand different ways?"
The answer seems to be the same one our parents told us and we told our children: "Because I said so."
That's all I need to know.

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