HONEST TRANSPARENCY



I know you thought I would never leave the book of Ruth.  I always love to have an ending to a reading that is redemptive and most of the readings in Judges were not, so I decided to nest on Ruth for a while since Naomi and I had some commonalities even though separated by 2,000 years.  

I enter the book of I Samuel, who is the last Judge during the rule by judges, and this read will last for a month or so as I write of some events in the book.  I am so thrilled that God uses flawed, finite, and sometimes pitiful people to tell His story of His love and His redemption for you and me.  

The first character I encounter is Hannah.  She is barren and probably the first wife of Elkanah. The ancient custom of the Levirate Marriage: in order to secure the family lineage, this law also included the interpretation if the first wife is barren, the man can take on a second wife.  I just betcha this is a man's stretch of legal jargon, because throughout Genesis when a second woman is included in a marriage, there is guaranteed chaos. I wonder what the length in time  of barreness involved before the second wife moved in and unpacked her bags?  

 OF COURSE, there are hard feelings between Hannah and the second wife, Peninnah.  I guess that is a shock to dear Elkanah?  Both women go to Shiloh with Elkanah to worship and to give sacrifices yearly.  While there in worship, Hannah is praying, requesting of the Lord to give her a son, and Eli, the priest is watching her.  His immediate judgment is that she is drunk and Eli chides her for her perceived drunkeness.  She quickly confesses that she "has not had wine or a strong drink" but that she is oppressed in her spirit.  I love her honest transparency..."I have poured out my soul before the Lord." I Samuel 1:15 Scripture records that Hannah "went her way and ate, and her face was no long sad."

Image result for CLIP ART SHOWING TRANSPARENCY I sense Hannah's honest transparency.  The Psalms are replete with David's gut level praise of God and sometimes his gut level woes.  Some transparency that might injure another person probably should not be spoken or written.  In this passage, we hear Hannah's pain of her barreness, and not to mention the provacation of Peninnah to irritate her.  Amazing, she pours out her soul to God,  and she is no longer sad. 

There are times that you and I are called upon to look intently into our hearts and our minds and identify the causes of remorse, disappointments, or judgments...to pour our our souls to God.    Warning, it is not always the ole culprit, the evil one,  who may be causing the oppression, disappointment, or remorse.  It could be wrong judgements which I have made against another, or maybe expectations that I have tried to press against another and they have failed to meet them. These two suggestions are among myriad.  Just name your own.   As I honestly pour out my soul to the Lord, I might find that the souce of my pain could just be selfish little ole me who is irritating and provoking myself and probably others! Oh me, it sounds like confession and repentance time.  2 Corinthians 7:10, "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorow of the world produces death."  Thank You, Father God, that we can pour out our souls to You and receive forgiveness, understanding, and healing.  #IHAVETHREESONS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THOSE SEEING CAN BECOME BLIND

Image
John 9 is the story of the healing of the blind beggar.  Not only is it a marvelous story of the miraculous healing of the man as he is given his sight, but a sad story of the religious of whom Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind ." The religious have seen the miracle, even though it has taken place on a Sabbath, and they interview the man and his parents for their stories and understanding. I find it so thrilling that the healed man speaks so articulately and logically with the religious in their "interview" with him.  His statement, " Now that is remarkable!  You don't know where HE comes from, yet HE opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners.  He listens to the godly man who does His will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." What truth he has spoken to the religious wh
Read more

REHEARSALS

Image
  I wonder how much time do I give to rehearsing God's goodness and how He has intervened in my life to "save" me from myself?  How alike the Israelites I can be, complaining about what goes wrong, how it affects me, and what I lack.  As a Christ follower, I have the Indwelling Holy Spirit to give me remembrance NOT of my complaining and grumbling, but of a recall of God's faithfulness to me.  It is recorded in Psalms 78 and 106 that " They forgot what He had done, the wonder He had shown them", "They did not remember His power--the day He redeemed them from the oppressor...", "They did not remember Your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.", "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.", and "They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt...". Contrast with me, God's remembrance: Ps. 106:44-46, "But He took note of their distress
Read more

ORDER AND DESIGN

Image
    I do not have OCD, but I do confess that I like order in my home.  Now that I am retired, I am not so much into spotless, but "picked up" and "kinda" clean. (Do not open drawers and closets!) I might go to more trouble when I know I am having company, but otherwise, I remove the clutter that seems to reproduce on its own.   When I began the reading in Genesis in January, I was again taken with the with the orderliness and design of God in creation, and have seen Him use Moses and Aaron to ORDERLY marshal the Israelites to move out of Egypt. How do you move some 600+ males and that is not even wives and children? Animals also?  They have been one year+ out of Egypt, and have been camped at Mt. Sinai where God has given them laws for their spiritual and physical welfare.  God gives Moses the design of the Tabernacle and Moses is able to bring together the workers to complete the Tabernacle.   The clip art at the top is the positioning of the 12 Tribes and the
Read more