bleat

"...the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes....they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful....they have deserted the Lord....they are unfaithful to their God....The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?" (Hosea 3:1; 4:7, 10, 12, 16).

I wrote in the margins of my Bible: It is completely the choice of the Israelites to be far from God. God is the one loving them, He is not the one deserting them, He is not the one being unfaithful, He is not the one being stubborn. He wants to pasture them like lambs in a meadow. Look at Isaiah 40:11, "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart." All we have to do is let Him. Do you ever feel like you want to be strong for God? That He's disappointed if you're weak? I do. All the time. But that's not at all what He wants. How can He carry the lamb close to his heart - which is where I want to be - if the lamb keeps kicking and struggling to prove how capable it is? It takes will to be far from God, but surrender to be near Him. I need to be reminded that He actually wants me to be near Him: "But now, this is what the Lord says--he who created you, he who formed you: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine'" (Isaiah 43:1).

Who could love you, desire you, miss you, know you, want you, more than He who created you?

Please forgive me for time that I've wasted
I'm a doubting Thomas
I'll take Your promise
Though I know nothing's safe
Oh me of little faith
~ Nickel Creek

the fall of man

Fall is in the air. Can you feel it? I can't. But here's proof:

~ Starbucks has begun to serve pumpkin spice lattes again.
~ Olay is reissuing their Winter Retreat body wash that disappeared during the summer, but makes my arms (and probably feet, too, but I tend to notice it less) smell like vanilla.
~ Shane & Shane sang "Oh Holy Night" off their in-the-works Christmas album at their "free fall concert" in front of the seminary last night. Shane & Shane and Christmas music is an ethereal combination.
~ Game 1 of football season was Thursday night. Tomorrow promises to be a good day.
~ It's not 90 degrees today.

My good friend Sarah taught me a valuable lesson the other day. I merely asked her one lesson God taught her while she served in Africa this summer, and she answered, "God is good." I don't know about you, but I've heard that far too often.
Pastor: God is good--
Congregation: --all the time!
And I think my problem stems from the situations in which I've heard people say it. "God really pulled me through it. He is so good." But what if He hadn't pulled you through it? What if you had died, or been maimed, or lost your house or family or shelves of books? Would God still have been good?

Too often I base the character of God off of what I am going through. I feel alone, so God is far. I feel sad, so God has abandoned me. But just because I am scared doesn't mean God isn't comfort. Just because I am unhappy doesn't mean God isn't joy. "God is good" is a fact that doesn't change with the way I feel. It's like a tree, firmly planted in the soil, whose leaves change every fall and spring. Just because the leaves turn orange and fall off doesn't mean the tree has changed in any way. It's the leaves who change, not the tree. God is good. It's who God is, not the circumstance or situation with which I am dealing.

God loves us, wants to heal us, save us, be near us, and because of this I think I think I deserve those things. Why won't You heal me? Why won't You save me? But I've come to realize, it isn't about me. The people in the Old Testament seem to grasp this concept and that of God's goodness, even before Jesus. In 1 Chronicles 20, Joab is about to attack the Ammonites, and he tells his men in verse 12, "Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight."

That's it! They trust the Lord to do what is good in his sight. They might not understand why. They might die! But it isn't up to them. It's up to the Lord. They accept that. And whatever happens, is good. Like Shane Bernard shared last night, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego told Nebuchadnezzar, "'If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up'" (Daniel 3:17-18). Even if he does not! It's not about US, they're saying. It's about the true King, about His plans, His reign, worshiping Him.

To me, it seems that we should serve God simply because He is Creator and majestic and a thousand other adjectives. But He is also loving and good and wants to be in relationship with us. But that doesn't mean everything will always go our way. Jesus said in John 16, "'In this world you will have trouble.'" WILL! Not may, or could, or perhaps will, but will. "'In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.'" The verse preceeding that declares that Jesus has told us this so that, in Him, we may have peace. In Him, not in this world. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

I don't know if any of this makes sense. I praise God for who He is, not for what good is going on in my life. I praise God for who He is, not because I'm happy right now. "God is good" doesn't mean "everything in my life is going good right now" (excuse the incorrect grammar). God is good, period. God is good.

I don't feel like doing homework.

Leave the sewin' to the women

I like gender roles. I like that Sally got Billy to check the oil in her car and Henry can do 90 push-ups in a minute when I can’t even bench the bar that’s supposed to hold the weights. I’m not saying that all guys have to wield machine guns and walk across shards of glass a la John McClain in Die Hard, or that all girls must subscribe to Good Housekeeping and idolize Betty Crocker. I for one am always in the mood for a football game, and did you notice that, before Cat Cora, all the Iron Chefs were male? (For once I found myself telling the woman to get out of the kitchen!)

Sometimes I just get tired of the “anything you can do I can do” frame of mind. I think people are getting so caught up in "equality" that they forget how wonderful being different really is. When I’m feeling weak and distraught, I appreciate that the guy I turn to is going to be someone strong that I lean on. Being “sensitive” doesn’t mean he has to cry when I get split ends. Stop telling guys to "get in touch with their emotions." If I wanted someone to cry with me, I'd turn to my girlfriends. I think that sometimes we look for things in the opposite sex that just aren't there, and instead of trying to put them there, let's appreciate what already is there. Instead of dragging your boyfriend to your family reunions and forcing him to watch the latest Nicholas Sparks book-turned-movie with you, appreciate that he can tighten the bolts on your bed frame and hook up the surround sound. I'll turn to my girlfriends if I want to watch a chick-flick or shop for shoes. If I can’t open the pickle jar, I have no problem calling in my brother. If there’s a huge bug on my wall with 80,000 legs and a machete, I’m not against letting my dad handle it. None of this "trying to be just as good as the guy" baloney. Being different doesn't make you lower. "Equality" doesn't mean all can do all. I just don't think genders are celebrated enough for simply being their genders.

I think God created male and female to complement one another, but how can we complement one another if we're constantly trying to be like or "as good" as the other? Be different. Enjoy the differences. Live long and prosper.