Towards the beginning of the year (yep, just a month ago) I started thinking about what it would be like to have been some of the people in the Bible. Haven't you ever thought about that? Surely I'm not the only one! Nahhhhhh.
When I was a little girl I remember listening to a Bill Cosby album (you know, the big round things that you put on the record player) at Dad and Connie's house. As I was thinking about the stories in the Bible, I was reminded of this one particular skit that Bill Cosby did on one of his albums regarding Noah. I have attached a video of that skit here as it's now on youtube: http://youtu.be/bputeFGXEjA It is a total classic! And if you haven't seen EvanAlmighty, maybe you should.
Lets bring the story in today's day and say since I just bought my house a year ago that I'm doing some upgrades and cutting some wood out in the garage. (Uh huh...scary thought that I know how to use a saw, isn't it? I hear ya!) Then I hear this voice over the saw. Even though in my real daily life God's voice is that "ever still voice", I don't imagine that this would be the case here...because you know that saws can be pretty doggon loud! So maybe his voice is much like Cosby depicted in the skit; deep, clear and booming.
God calls out my name; "Celeste!" Or do you think he would call me that? Maybe he'd use my home name, "Michelle!" Or perhaps just for the delight of my MC friends, he'd say, "Mookie!" Ok...probably not. We'll roll with Michelle. God's incredibly deep, commanding, booming voice heard over the saw: "Michelle!"
Hmmm...maybe we should step away from Cosby's version and look at what it says in the Bible. You can find the story of Noah in the very first book of the Bible: Genesis, chapter 6, starting in verse 8 (Genesis 6:8). It says here that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Oh to have been Noah! My first instinct is to say that I would NEVER have that type of grace from God! But we all get to have the grace from God, so we should all be glad about that. In my situation, very undeserved, but man, I'll take it with gladness!
If you look down in verse 13 you'll see that God explains to Noah (me, in this rendition) that there is much violence on earth and because of that, His plan was to "end all flesh" by using the earth to destroy them. Yikes! I've been let in on some doozie secrets before, but this takes the cake! In that moment I take a deep breath and can't help but hold it, thinking of my family...my kids...their families...my friends. I feel panic stricken at the thought of what God is about to do.
(I might think about the dog, cat, chinchilla and lizard as a second thought but don't tell them.) ;-)
The Lord goes on giving directions about building the ark and how to do that. They are pretty detailed and being a note taker, I am furiously writing all the information down as quick as I can. I don't want to waste the Lord's time!
God then shares a little more information on how He is going to destroy all living beings...with a flood that He is going to bring on. He emphasises that everything that is on the earth is going to die. Now, this is almost like torture because all I can think about are the people that I love. They have no idea what is about to come their way and I can't tell them because I can't give away God's secret! He will obviously know...He is God! What a quandary!
And then this happened, God explains to me that he is going to make a covenant with me. (A covenant is typically a formal agreement between two or more people about doing or not doing something.) Essentially, if I build the ark, I will be able to bring my children, my spouse, and the spouse of my children with me on the ark. My exhale is audible as the initial relief of leaving behind my kids emits itself from my body. In fact, I almost miss the rest of God's instructions to collect two of each kind of living thing and bring it onto the ark.
What a curious thing. Two of each kind of creature. How am I going to do that? Logistically, how is that even possible? Just as I try to figure out how to control the situation I hear the words from my God who is the God of all: "...will come to you to keep them alive." Ohhhh! Ok! Got it! Have you ever wondered about that...how did Noah get them all together? For years I missed the part about them going to Noah.
Once all of the animals and my family were on the ark, we did not close the doors...the Lord shut them in. What an amazing sight to see. That huge door being shut so we would all be safe...being shut at the hand of God Himself! Gently it closes and the rain begins to fall, just as the Lord said it would. With the same gentle hand that shut us in to the ark, the same hand brought down the wrath of 40 days and 40 nights of rains and flood, killing every living thing outside of the ark.
I am humbled by God's mercy. And humbled again at God's ability to make a wind pass over the earth, as if He just blew across the earth with his own breath, or perhaps He was sighing, and the rain stopped, the water receded, and the ark rested on ground after seven months. That is a long time but who isn't willing to wait on God for that deliverance? And during that time, the main thing that we had to do was to worship the God who had saved us from the wrath that everyone else had endured. The worship was deep, constant and beautiful beyond words.
Once off of the ark and back on land I became a farmer and planted a vineyard. Ultimately, I lived to be 950 years old! Looking good for my age, aren't I? :-)
This is just one of many stories in the Bible. As you explore the excitement and thrill of God's stories, remember that they are true but don't forget to ask yourself how you would have handled that situation had it been you. Maybe we'll take a look at another story sometime soon.
If you were Noah, what would you have done?
Lord, I thank You for Your mercy and the grace that You provide to each of us each day. We thank You that You have promised to not provide a flood again because I have no idea what a "cubit" is or if I would even be able to find gopherwood like that! I don't know that Lowe's carries that! :-) But I thank You that You are willing to use each one of us despite our failures, despite who we think we are, despite our lack of attention to You, Lord. But instead, You know what it is that we need, when we need it, and provide in ways that we don't even always see. We thank You for Your gentle touch and for Your wrath as it is surely warranted. We thank You for Your unending and unconditional love each and every day. We honor You for who You are: our God.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
In the pursuit of...
This morning the pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina, Perry Noble, posted a blog titled: "You Probably Should Not Date Him If...". (http://www.perrynoble.com/2012/02/01/you-probably-should-not-date-him-if/) Perry has an awesome way of putting things out there in a real way that is typically rather humorous so he has one of the few blogs that I subscribe to.
After reading the post this morning, I have been pondering the first thought of being pursued and how guys should never tire of pursuing the woman that he wants to be with. Blame the adventurous side of me (or is it the female side of me?) but there is something about the thought of being pursued by a man of integrity, who is loyal, and knows that it is "me" that he wants that kicks the harlequin gears into drive. (And I don't read harlequin books - for the record!)
While still feeling dreamy about the thought of actually being pursued I realized that there is a lot of talk and obligation for a man to pursue a woman, but there isn't much definition around what that "pursuit" looks like. Before your mind goes there, don't even think that I'm going to try to define it here because I probably wouldn't know it if it hit me upside the head! That is real talk. :-) Instead, I can tell you what it is not.
Before doing that though, perhaps we should get a good definition of what it is just for fun and for comparisons sake. From dictionary.com we know that Pursuit is "an effort to attain; a quest", or "any occupation, pastime, or the like, in which a person is engaged regularly or customarily". I will admit, I LOVE the word "quest"! (That darn adventurous side!) Ok...now that we are squarely planted on the dictionary version of it, lets talk about what it is not.
A man pursuing a woman is not continually trying to get in touch with her every few months even when you've been asked to leave her alone. No means no.
A man pursuing a woman is not the same as a man stalking the woman. (Hint: if you have had an order of protection placed against you by the woman, you are now in stalker mode, not pursuing, and you need to stop!)
A man pursuing a woman is not someone who expresses himself once and disappears because her level of interest wasn't the same, or wasn't what was expected. Give it some time. Continue to be her friend. Just continue to get to know each other and see what happens.
A man pursuing a woman is not a one-time scenario of wanting a commitment from her. This isn't a game of Deal or No Deal. Again, give it some time.
A man does not truly pursue a woman if he is using middle-men. You know what I mean. That old school stuff. "Tell her that I like her and see what she says."
A man pursuing a woman is not a man who calls himself trying to pursue multiple women at the same time to see which one works out first. (Yes, you have to put all your eggs in the same basket to truly be pursuing a woman.)
A man pursuing a woman does not rely on gifts to tell the tale. He begins to write his own story with her through his own actions and behaviors.
So maybe that brings us back to what it is like to be the man pursuing a woman. As I said before, as the pursuer you are a man of integrity, loyal, patient, kind, willing to explore and get to know each other, can look her square in the eyes and have a decent conversation, is committed to putting in whatever time it takes, is adventurous, is willing to go on a "quest", and knows how to "write" a good story.
Now, what that looks like from one person to the next, I have no idea. But that is what it feels like in the heart when I think about it.
What do you think?
After reading the post this morning, I have been pondering the first thought of being pursued and how guys should never tire of pursuing the woman that he wants to be with. Blame the adventurous side of me (or is it the female side of me?) but there is something about the thought of being pursued by a man of integrity, who is loyal, and knows that it is "me" that he wants that kicks the harlequin gears into drive. (And I don't read harlequin books - for the record!)
While still feeling dreamy about the thought of actually being pursued I realized that there is a lot of talk and obligation for a man to pursue a woman, but there isn't much definition around what that "pursuit" looks like. Before your mind goes there, don't even think that I'm going to try to define it here because I probably wouldn't know it if it hit me upside the head! That is real talk. :-) Instead, I can tell you what it is not.
Before doing that though, perhaps we should get a good definition of what it is just for fun and for comparisons sake. From dictionary.com we know that Pursuit is "an effort to attain; a quest", or "any occupation, pastime, or the like, in which a person is engaged regularly or customarily". I will admit, I LOVE the word "quest"! (That darn adventurous side!) Ok...now that we are squarely planted on the dictionary version of it, lets talk about what it is not.
A man pursuing a woman is not continually trying to get in touch with her every few months even when you've been asked to leave her alone. No means no.
A man pursuing a woman is not the same as a man stalking the woman. (Hint: if you have had an order of protection placed against you by the woman, you are now in stalker mode, not pursuing, and you need to stop!)
A man pursuing a woman is not someone who expresses himself once and disappears because her level of interest wasn't the same, or wasn't what was expected. Give it some time. Continue to be her friend. Just continue to get to know each other and see what happens.
A man pursuing a woman is not a one-time scenario of wanting a commitment from her. This isn't a game of Deal or No Deal. Again, give it some time.
A man does not truly pursue a woman if he is using middle-men. You know what I mean. That old school stuff. "Tell her that I like her and see what she says."
A man pursuing a woman is not a man who calls himself trying to pursue multiple women at the same time to see which one works out first. (Yes, you have to put all your eggs in the same basket to truly be pursuing a woman.)
A man pursuing a woman does not rely on gifts to tell the tale. He begins to write his own story with her through his own actions and behaviors.
So maybe that brings us back to what it is like to be the man pursuing a woman. As I said before, as the pursuer you are a man of integrity, loyal, patient, kind, willing to explore and get to know each other, can look her square in the eyes and have a decent conversation, is committed to putting in whatever time it takes, is adventurous, is willing to go on a "quest", and knows how to "write" a good story.
Now, what that looks like from one person to the next, I have no idea. But that is what it feels like in the heart when I think about it.
What do you think?
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