Epiphany - Relived!

Whew! Has it been a while for me to post, or what?! I guess it's called summer...and Facebook...that's where I put most of the effort with pictures, etc. Anyway, my wonderful husband and I were just talking this morning after we read the Bible...and it reminded me of a post that I wrote about year ago, almost exactly a year, crazy enough! I thought I would look it back up and repost it.

Bobby and I were talking about how before we really read the Bible through front to back...we thought that these characters were going to be "perfect" for some reason - God's chosen ones...perfect, right? And as we have read the Bible through, you realize and it's almost surprising (and maybe at first disappointing)...that the characters, whether it is King David, Moses, or Israel as God's chosen nation...that they are soooo far from perfect! They have so many weaknesses and those weaknesses are proof to us - thousands of years later - that we need God to make us perfect (duh!). It is also proof to others that there is hope. For example, I look at Israel time and time (and time!) again turn their backs on God. It is crazy to me that these people have God telling them that they are His chosen people and all they have to do is follow His commands and He will make great things out of them. Pretty simple, right? Crazy enough...they don't obey! It baffles me as I read through the Old Testament....then I realize...uh oh..."Israel" and "Dani" and can be interchanged! How dare I judge the people of Israel, when I realize this is God's communication to me to show that I am God's chosen one too...and all I have to do is obey His commands, and yet I fail as well. In fact, I know now that the whole story in the Old Testament, especially the big picture of the entire story, is for me to see that Israel is there to show me how I interact with God. And that is bad and good. Bad, because that means I am a screw up! Good, though, because that means God has hope for me if I just believe in Him. So, as much as God is so angry at Israel time and again throughout the OT (whew...and especially in Jeremiah, dang, He is MAD...just reading that now!), He never fails to offer hope for the nation. Which includes huge amounts of forgiveness, when they don't deserve that at all. So, because I have weaknesses (I sin!), God still offers hope to me after being REALLY mad at me, and I don't deserve it at all. And if Israel is a powerful story to me and the hope I still have in the Lord no matter how "bad" I have been, imagine our story to non-believers (or even other believers!)....I guess, my challenge, is to rise up in your weaknesses, your sins...and use those as perfect examples of how God has still promised His HOPE to you...and always will! I wonder how many people think that all believers (in the Bible and beyond) are perfect and it was easy for them...and how encouraged they could be by Israel, David's....and your story!

Here's my old blog from about a year ago....a little different twist to the "being made perfect in our weakness" thought...but still the same theme throughout.

Epiphany

August 20, 2008

If you know me, you know that every so often I have little thoughts/sayings that make a ton of sense to me and seem to piece together, slowly or quickly, and then I probably use these epiphanies every so often...especially if you have a issue or problem that you are talking to me about. Bobby's probably sick of my epiphanies by now. =)

Anyway...here's something that I just thought through and thought I would share.I stumbled on this verse and thought of myself, then thought of others in this world as well that deal with this same thought. Many times with humans, it is difficult for us to admit our weaknesses...or that we have them in general even. But, as this verse explains, we have them to bring glory to God, believe it or not. And I love that. God gave me weaknesses and pain for many reasons, 1) to show/make me admit that I need God - why would I come to God if he didn't prove my lowliness every so often? and 2) so that His Glory can be "advertised" through me. I LOVE that last one! I HAVE to have imperfections and pain in order to show the rest of the world that there is a God.

2 Corinthians 12:7-107 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

For example...say that you have people that you hang around with that aren't Christ followers, but you hang out with and interact with them on a consistent basis. They get to know you, obviously, and get to know your character and really admire and respect you. Then one day you happen to be talking about a touchy subject. Defenses raise, you and others are all trying to prove your points, and it gets ugly. You yell, maybe even name call, and act completely out of character. In fact...you - the Christ follower - are the nastiest one of the bunch. Nobody likes to admit this, but even with the most Godly individuals, this happens. So..your friends think, where did this come from? I thought he/she was "perfect" in a sense...if I respect them so much other times, where'd this ugliness come from? How can they be just like me, yet the majority of times they seem so great and put together?

This right here, this is a testimony to bring glory to God. God makes us the "great" and the "put together", we don't have anything to do with it....and God is truly the one they are respecting when they respect us and our actions, not us. Without God...we'd be nasty all of the time...and what a blessing it is for God to choose us for this! He made us great, we did nothing to deserve that...but He did anyway.Many times people ask why there is pain, suffering, weakness...and I think I just had an epiphany why it's with us....believe it or not...it's to exalt GOD! All of this said, I wanted to send this along and post this, because at times I know we are all ashamed of your weakness. And as we should try to grow and learn from weaknesses and mistakes...I still think this is a lesson for us. We will never fully get rid of our nastiness....we must try to "better" what we can...and then leave the rest for the God to use for His glory. It's a great advertisement for what God can do, who He truly is, and this brings glory to God! Over the last year, I've realized that my purpose in this life is to affect others for God's glory. What's your purpose?