God is present in our struggles
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:
What did I like about today's reading?
These origin stories of outrage, anger, pride and destruction are not comfortable to hear. But I do find them relatable. It feels like human nature to react to hurt by pushing back harder. I’m sure most of us haven’t gone as far as Lamech, who said, “I have killed a man for wounding me,” but I recognise wanting to have the last word. We can probably all think of world leaders who believe that doubled-down aggression is the best way to deal with threats.
I don’t like that at all. But I love that it’s recognised in the first chapters of the human story here, told with purpose as God has a plan to deal with it and save us from ourselves.
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
I know people who doubt that God can be real because of suffering in their lives or in the world. Why can’t God just wipe it out, make it go away? I think these stories show me how seriously God wants us to have the good lives he made us for, but also why it’s not as simple as “just make it stop”.
Noah’s story shows the extent God could go to reset the world – listening to the ark filling up was like hearing creation in reverse. But God didn’t call it a final day. Creation is in his nature, and he wants us to join him in that too. This includes remembering that God has always been present in the struggles we feel between good and evil, justice and injustice.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
I think I'm a good (or at least not bad) person, but I recognise the battle with sin, especially when I'm feeling proud of doing well on my own, or when I let frustration with little things turn into anger and bitterness which affect everything. I'm going to bring that to God more often and trust him more.
Who am I going to share this with?
Our local school community is very interested in distinguishing good from bad so that the school is a healthy place for children to grow and not a battleground. The school recently introduced “restorative justice” as a way of dealing with bad behaviour, and as a governor I want to keep God’s ideas of justice and mercy in mind as we evaluate this.
We also have our own son Noah to send into school every day, and we would love him to grow up as full of faith and readiness to obey God as Noah in the Bible. There is lots to share here as he learns to judge well and put love into practice.