Thunder and Rainbows, Testing and Following, Discipline and Guidance

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 04 January 2011 16:20:24

OT reading today was Gen 7:1 - 9:17, which included Noah and the flood. This whilst our news screens are filled with Rockhampton in Australia. There may have been many centuries between the event which gave rise to this myth; the writing of the story and today but questions still arise in the mist of the suffering caused by floods such as these. The main question is why? Why do some people die and not others? Why does flooding like this occur in the first place? and How do we move on, rather living in fear that it might happen again? I have no answers, the writers of this part of the bible have no answers - this type of natural disaster needs explanation yet is beyond explanation. So we put the blame on God. Is this fair? I don't know.

At the end of the day this reading just left me thinking of the Martyn Joseph song Thunder and Rainbows (link to lyrics...You Tube, etc not available...my favourite version is the collaboration with Stewart Henderson on "Because We Can").

The other thing that struck me about it all, though, was the fact that for the third time in four days I was reminded that "man" (in the generic sense) is made in the image of God. (Today it was 9:6). The image of God toaday was somebody who got pissed off and went too far, but regretted it and did his best to make amends. Whilst I'm not totally happy with this because I want the perfect God who doesn't sit there going WTF have I done it is strangely comforting. I am made in the image of a God who makes mistakes....?

NT was Matt 4: 1-22

I was struck by the way the role of the Spirit is to lead to hard times aswell as easy ones. In bringing us to a point of entering new stuff he takes us into places which are hard and testing.

Yet, some people don't go to these places. The first disciples didn't go through periods of discernment and preperation, they just got stuck in...they gave up everything and just went.

Me, I have the feeling God does a bit of both. Sometimes he takes us in to the places where we have to debate scripture with the devil and face real hardship and other times it's a case of think about it after the event...just follow the call.

The final reading today was from Proverbs rather than Psalms (Prov 1:1-7); it spoke of "wisdom and discipline", "guidence", "knowledge", "discretion" and "learning"....it said all of this was rooted in this: "Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, but fools dispise wisdom and discipline".

This is useful, whatever I do and think. Wherever this crazy journey leads me I do need to fear God, not in a scary way...but in a way which says this is the person who life comes from...who is so much bigger than me and who I can never understand. Such a being, whether a bit of a psycho, whether a regretful God who makes the odd mistake or whether a perfect being with a pre-ordained plan deserves respect simply for being God.

That's where I am today, anyway. Oh and thanks for the comments....keep them coming in.